Judge Throws Out China’s First Same-Sex Marriage Case

China’s first case by a same-sex couple seeking the right to marry was dismissed by a Judge in the central province of Hunan on Wednesday.The couple was suing the local Civil Affairs Bureau in Changsha city for refusing to issue them a marriage registration certificate. “We are all dissatisfied with the result and I will appeal,” 27-year-old plaintiff, Sun Wenlin, told the newsmen after the court session. He added that his mother was in court to support him. His lawyer, Shi Fulong, said that he expected the outcome but was surprised that the judgment was announced so quickly. “The case opened and closed this morning, we lost, the reason given was that according to the Marriage Law, only a man and a woman can marry,” Fulong said. Wenlin said earlier that the wording of the law did not say man and woman, but husband and wife. “I personally believe that this term refers not only to heterosexual couples but also to same-sex couples,” he said.