Liang Wenhui, a senior student at Guangdong University of Foreign studies, recently sent letters to thousands of Chinese parliamentarians calling on them to legalize same-sex marriage.
Liang sent letters to the 484 members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference national committee and 2,516 deputies of the and the National People’s Congress, saying LGBT people face difficulty achieving equal access to medical treatment, social welfare, employment, disposition of properties and child support. Liang wrote that, although LGBT individuals have become more publicly visible in China in recent years, the country lacks the proper legislation to protect their rights.
Liang told reporters he spent the entire winter holiday researching the names, addresses and titles of the country’s legislators and political advisors in order to send out the letters.
In January, the lesbian daughter of a Hong Kong tycoon who offered a 780 million yuan ($128 million) dowry to any man who would marry her wrote a public letter urging him to accept her sexuality.
Last week, Xiang Xiaohan, a gay-rights activist, sued the Hunan provincial authorities because they denied his request to establish an NGO to raise public awareness of LGBT issues.
In May last year, over 100 people took part in a demonstration in Changsha, Hunan province to call for an end to discrimination against LGBT people. The rally had not been registered with the police, and Xiang, the organizer, was arrested and detained for 12 days.
[Image via Flickr]
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