Chinese couple hold wedding ceremony in call for equal marriage

A lesbian couple in China have tied the knot in an informal ceremony in Beijing, saying it’s the “right time” for them as a couple regardless of the marriage’s legal recognition.

Li Tingting and her partner Teresa Xu wed at a restaurant in the Chinese capital surrounded by their friends last Thursday (July 4), CNN reports.

Image: GDOTTV

Dressed in white bridal gowns, the couple told reporters that they had planned to try and make the marriage official at their local registry office but were warned against “making a scene” by police.

“I feel like this is the right time,” Li told CNN before their wedding reception. “We’ve been together for so long.”

The couple added that they were inspired by last month’s US Supreme court ruling legalising equal marriage throughout the United States, and hoped their matrimony would further the push for same-sex marriage in China, where the judgment sparked a renewed national conversation about gay rights.

Li is a well-known women’s rights campaigner in China, and detained by the government for 37 days along with five others earlier this year in a crackdown on social activism.

During her incarceration she wasn’r allowed to see Teresa because their relationship is not recognised, Li explained.

“I hope by doing this, we’re married no matter whether it’s legal or not,” she said. “We’re married women now!”

Homosexuality was decriminalised in China in 1997, but according to a 2013 US survey, only 21% of China’s population say they accept homosexuality.

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