Li Yinhe, professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and long-time LGBT activist, has asked representatives at the National People’s Congress (NPC) to present a Chinese Same-Sex Marriage Bill as an amendment to the marriage law. The NPC is the second part of this year’s Liang Hui (The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress) which starts today. Li stated in her proposed Bill that homosexuality is not illegal according to the law, and that homosexuals should enjoy all the rights given to Chinese citizens by law, including the right to marry.
Li first proposed a same-sex marriage bill at an open hearing by the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee in 2000, and then proposed the bill several times during previous Liang Hui’s. She has previously never succeeded in getting the Bill passed because of both pressure from the media and the lack of co-sponsors for a placement on the discussion agenda.
Other than Li, other people from the Chinese LGBT community have voiced their opinions before this year’s Liang Hui sessions. For example Lin Xianzhi, the father of a Chinese gay man, has written letters to 1,000 legislators asking them to initiate moves before the Liang Hui to bring about a law legalizing homosexual marriage in the country. However, at the time of publishing no one had replied to his letters.
