First public gay wedding in China

Early this month, China celebrated its first gay wedding – unofficial, but the male couple say they will ‘never desert’ each other. 47-year-old Zeng Ge and 27-year-old Xiao Pan tied the knot in a small bar in Chengdu on January 3rd.

"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?" Zeng, a divorced architect, told China Daily.

Zeng met Pan, 27, a demobilized soldier last November at a bar. They fell in love with each other at first sight, he said.

"His bright and enchanting smile almost blinded me. And I am so addicted to his gentle and soft voice."

At the ceremony, while most were from Xiao Pan and Zeng Ge's inner circle, there were a couple of onlookers. As they put their rings on each other, some "acted as if they were watching animals, some even kept pointing here and there," said Zeng Ge.

Ever since the gay couple made their relationship public in November they have been the subject of revilement from family and friends.

"All the capital in my company has been frozen by my younger brother.

"My sister warned me she would never call me her brother unless I break up with Pan; and I have answered hundreds of phone calls from friends and relatives, who say they feel ashamed of me.

"But we are deeply in love and will never desert each other," Zeng told China Daily.

Zeng said the couple feared discrimination and had thus moved to a small town near Chengdu where they were unknown to avoid unwanted attention.

Gay sex was legalised in China in 1997, and homosexuality ceased being classed as a mental illness in 2001.