Gays and lesbians
in Beijing used Valentine's Day to make the
first public appeal for the legalization of same-sex
marriage in China. During a busy lunch hour in the
capital's central business district several
protesters handed out red carnations wrapped in flyers
calling for the public support of same-sex unions.
"Love has no boundaries; it is nothing to
do with gender," the flyers read. "We
are homosexuals. We also want a life together with our loved
one...please support all kinds of partnerships and all
kinds of love. Please support same-sex marriage."
Such unauthorized protests are rare in China. In
2005 a gay and lesbian culture festival was broken up
by police on the grounds that organizers had not
sought permission to hold the event.
"We were concerned about
security...our action can be considered kind of
political," said Xian, one of the lesbian protesters.
Their protest, which lasted about 20 minutes, went
ahead undisturbed.
Of those who took flowers, many said they were
behind the protesters. "I think it's only fair;
it's everybody's right to get married," said Liu
Peng, a straight 21-year-old banking student. "I
support them. I think it's great."
"I don't know when China will have gay
marriage," he added. "Not now, but in
the future I think China will have gay marriage, but I can't
say when, maybe far in the future."
Not everyone supported the protesters. Christina
Wang, a married 31-year-old corporate headhunter, who
accepted a flower, said she opposed same-sex marriage
because of her religion. "I am a
Christian and I don't think it's right," Wang said.
"I don't think it's healthy to be gay."
The protest comes a few weeks before the annual
meeting of China's parliament. Gays and
lesbians had hoped that renowned sexologist Li Yinhe
would submit a fourth proposal to parliament to
legalize same-sex marriage--her three previous
such proposals were each rejected.
But in a recent blog entry, Li wrote she was
retiring from campaigning for sexual rights.
"Gay marriage is not something that our country can
accept at this stage of its cultural development,"
wrote Li. (Dinah Gardner, The Advocate)