News / Aug. 21, 2019
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 Taiwan in its landmark achievement of m+%apJ(sZX#JVrouGFhe4JB&rY4firGDWSfa$66uYbJyzb)_y2Larriage equality. Taiwan in May became the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage.
Zang Tiewei, the spokesman for Parliament's legal affairs commission, said marriage between a man and a woman "suits our country's national condition and historical and cultural tragU0)[email protected]*[email protected]ditions.”
"As far as I know, the vast majority of countries in the world do not recognise the legalisation of same-sex marria1KiCegX1rPTDh4LvR)-cz*57K&xjqT6i^kOy9=w^PzfeFYdU#ige” he said, according to Reuters.
China legalized gay sex in 1997 and removed it from the list of mental illnesseA##[email protected]!K18M0J_Ac$ats in 2001.
But, in a conservative and family-orientated society, many LGBTI Chines^[email protected])[email protected]^QsQ8)!7VMR2RvZ5Y4ubaXpC0dse 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 homosexualitdiI+DfzDHo^7)h#KQJocSSm%PE%[email protected]_=Q53#WVy "abnormal sexual behavior".
Tens of millions face discrimination
Yanzi Peng, Dir*L7^f_Q8vx3#Bij0MOTnKbetsU4t3m3Yrqlvcq2kBJQP%X2qrUector of LGBT 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 minorities in China who are discriminated against and treated differently because they do not have equal marriage guaranteZ2!WpiYrHE%*ptf_+bA7td$DmX)zP$^WJxnv)AQ2MO)Hdjwn=3es.”
"China has had 31fieu2eP&U9=PHVep-4Gpx8%^o^[email protected]!-S+OTc85V_Vmany wonderful stories of same-sex couples since ancient times”.
"Supporting family harmony, people who love each other can [email protected]_zvwewrK9_q_Aq88(rFWH+cf0Dz-m=4yV^be together, this is the traditional value of China."
First in Asia
Taiwan became the first countryI!UBvQnetf%0I(L2I5podKlVoCv%TcgjGjgqIzZnaMXRB7k3o+ in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on 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 got[email protected]+ke([email protected])dtwu6Hh0whFPnP(VJ2aKYuxvI#E^FnDFN%S 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" legalized samc3UUdI^&Cj2rmFS)_x)ljqYb7=AaktPnI#jT6%-GAkcebfmG(Ze-sex marriage.
“WRONG!" Joseph Wu said, sharing the People’s Daily x&C+zOgquWyqGx)LoTmSko)[email protected]^@eZ5SAAM%$ePd8x4nytweet.
"‘Democratic Taiwan is a country in itself & has nothing to do with authoritarian China” Wu said in his tweet.
