China’s state press covers gay wedding

A state-run Chinese newspaper gave its front page to a gay wedding today.

China Daily, an English-language newspaper, featured the wedding of Zeng Anquan and Pan Wenjie, which took place on January 3rd.

Same-sex marriage and civil unions are not legally recognised in China, yet the media attention on the story follows a number of recent gay rights breakthroughs in the county.

Last month, the first state-run gay bar opened and this Friday will see China’s first gay pageant.

According to AFP, China Daily’s coverage of the wedding called it “the first such public event in the country”.

The happy couple married in a gay bar in the town of Chengdu. They recently moved to a nearby village to avoid unwanted attention, although they may now find themselves the poster children for gay rights in the country.

Zeng, who had previously been married to a woman, told the newspaper: “We are no longer hiding any more. The wedding is our happiest and most precious moment.

“Thousands of gays and lesbians get married in France, Finland, the UK. Why couldn’t we?”

Although 200 of the couple’s friends attended the ceremony, their families did not. The couple said their relatives were ashamed of them.

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