China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) will not pursue same-sex marriage, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Activ[email protected])A5^*[email protected]+dUK=l$bf-BAV_==xZmQjs(mf0ists have been pressuring China’s leaders to follow Taiwan 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!gY&WkvO0#([email protected]#[email protected]* our country's national condition and historical and cultural traditions.”

"As far as I knowlD#JT2qz4ZBy1xzCTnNtIs()cfMv4SfBnk*uQjG5&S5p*XkEH8, the vast majority of countries in the world do not recognise the legalisation of same-sex marriage” he said, according to Reuters.

China legalized gay sex in 1997 and removed it from the list of mental@C(FMW(&sORSY&&)VdC0Nz=PyY#uWSfkHsXIgNGA22h(lDLGNR illnesses in 2001.

But, in a consEjA7w&1ZA13#Ih-zYq)[email protected]&ZkbnkdzAd1qwOc&FAo$cervative and family-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 "abnormal sexual belq-Bt^jq1%87YyenspmYThKqL@*JCjUk4O*PxYd*r(rGVl+P*qhavior".

Tens of millions face discrimination

Yanzi Peng, Director of LGivXRT5XcDVpkmJYds&d*aFplPz2&PRAv*_WJ#OaQhuOgo$Bm$@BT Rights Advocacy China, said the LGBTI community felt sorry over the NPC’s stance.

"As a law maker, the Law Commission should realize there are tens of millions of sexual minoritieGli&RG(78PwCQ5olGNqLg3*kSB+1**sDT_Ezdx3wv_5_pmquues in China who are discriminated against and treated differently because they do not have equal marriage guarantees.”

"China has had many wonderful stories of same-sex couples since ancient q15DoQ9BTCs(c7P7#Lo#Z8-*K8_$*@RXW!JA_2xi0$Idsi^Tb2times”.

"Supporting family harmony, people who love each other can be together, this is the t7sJvn_D1Tw(AEuRvq=XYdFOk)N6S&&u-i!P1&TiWfDH#9_95mCraditional value of China."

First in Asia

Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on 24 May after parliament passed a bill in line wig4WY(B)7-3D^)SZl20e7e2FTOYuJ_uSm(*!Od8_bjN%lC2Qvfgth a 2017 court ruling. 

After years of court hearings, debates in parliament, and heartbreaking referendums in [email protected]&QurXBoCH#OtxK(aqt4Ykz5JrYFoO+CA&iVOg-)November last year, more than 1,000 couples got 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 nEMMjx_YCbPW1Z!YXHs+lIB_H-+eeuNoGMU^=ox=$*&NMQ1u^YEewspaper for claiming "Taiwan, China" legalized same-sex marriage.

“WRONG!" Joseph Wu saidKtiqGJh7MoQq^5tqlqLIMzz&3k&Ac)&C=!!BtC^=KlR2OqhIae, sharing the People’s Daily tweet.

"‘Democratic Taiwan is a country in itself & has nothing to do with authoritarian China” Wu said in his tweet.
 

Yi-min lives alone with her son, as her husband works away from home. She meets Tinting at a wedding, a girl she once had some history with back in highschool. Back in the days, Yi-min denied their relationship out of fear of living as a lesbian woman, but meeting Tingting again reignites something in her, a possibility to escape her dull married life. Now that Taiwan has leagalised same-sex marrige, can Yi-min find the courage to admit her feelings? With the future of a child in her hands and under the pressure of her husband, her family-in-law and her own family, will she follow through with this new chapter in her life?