China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) will not pursue same-sex marriage, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Activists have been pressuring China’s leaders to follow TaiwtSr#CX-Acud4Z$ET#q!IRwrn2OKe2M$s9ihKP&KMOlf0m5ADxMan in its landmark achievement of marriage equality. Taiwan in May became the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage.
Zang Tiewei, the spokesman for Parliament's legal affairs commission, said marriage between a man and a woman "suits our country's national condition and hi!OlMb%#*3wgP*Lzv35o7#4hMl$OrGs+88Un5NSXO+spVeV^8!Zstorical and cultural traditions.”
"As far as I know, the vast majority of countries in the world do not riDRX72li9)!O+BwKV7Oh$UfBLZJsRuixnHGs_T=amDpf$p&ba0ecognise the legalisation of same-sex marriage” he said, according to Reuters.
China legalized gay sex in 1997j&x9duUgv!koTXz+2cM@GoBam1VqaP_%5J8QOZNA!VOwan%Yhq and removed it from the list of mental illnesses in 2001.
But, in a conservative and fa!NpuCP2tjMc)=cF3SyVy)vS)41r7%^*l2LGqNFhv^E6NZ-Jf-imily-orientated society, many LGBTI Chinese live in the closet. Same-sex marriage is also illegal.
China’s Netcasting Service Association (CNSA) officially banned LGBT content from China’s internet in June 2017.
CNSA labelled homosexuality "abnormawpez@RI_VQb&rXVUw_rmgUwU0tSkOpxka#34Tlw338Nc4uAZ4ml sexual behavior".
Tens of millions face discrimination
Yanzi Peng, Director of LGBT Rights Advocacy China, said the LGBTI community felt sorry over the NPC’uwDe0S(vUCg8-&olw0Tm@L2O9kXZ1Eo+P$tvyGVDAR=U5dw4mrs stance.
"As a law maker, the Law Commission should realize there are tens of millions of sexual minorities in China who jzDQ5N=%m*AxYD+#h!oM0aEPlE4*(RTjic=BiSJwBu3X2YGn1Oare discriminated against and treated differently because they do not have equal marriage guarantees.”
"China3NthA5dVrBrsQLtWsFb&bOwy+Lb4nQ)CwFccFmAE=d7)784YTR has had many wonderful stories of same-sex couples since ancient times”.
"Supporting family harmony, people who love each other can be together, this is the traditional value of ChiH3SDP&8aWMCU+DXty9r^)2raz#nmWPR0=P(L-h4e4%e$RZeiE9na."
First in Asia
Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage onp3Bf=H*X3L5C^y!ChGi+!uRE+ZnO2NmrD6kPSaO9pr1#YLsi*N 24 May after parliament passed a bill in line with a 2017 court ruling.
After years of court hearings, debates in parliament, and heartbreaking referendums in November last year, more than 1,000 couples ^TKTIVRgQIkfBKfWZ7MkO%rSe@9in7cM4ny=XYWTngSu*YWYqrgot married in the first month of same-sex marriage alone.
Just after the landmark vote in parliament, Taiwan’s foreign minister slammed China’s state newspaper for claiming "Taiwan, China" leg18xl^xWgie!VV#(HKDF=6ELjNBB#)HshQmd5Tzrf**KKa$f0Zwalized same-sex marriage.
“WRONG!" Joseph Wu said, sharing the People’s4lL*&$IxdD$SK$++q^Y1Ie6plmC9-DDG0+F6DVMx%VIpQp06i= Daily tweet.
"‘Democratic Taiwan is a country in itself & has nothing to do with authoritarian China” Wu said in his tweet.