Despite Defeat in Court, LGBT Visibility Continues to Grow in China

Yesterday, a court in China dismissed a man’s request to marry his male partner. While this is a setback for those fighting for equality, LGBT advocates agree that this case has raised the visibility of LGBT people in China. The plaintiff plans to continue his fight in court to marry his partner.

In January, Sun Wenlin filed a case against a civil affairs bureau in Hunan province after his application to marry his male partner was refused.  Many activists hailed the acceptance of Wenlin’s case as a momentous occasion for LGBT visibility in China. It was the first time a court had accepted a case of this kind.

At the time, Dan Zhou, a top legal expert and openly gay lawyer based in Shanghai, warned that the case was unlikely to lead to a change in the constitution, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. In a message to HRC, Zhou explained that the Chinese legal system is not based on case law and courts do not have the power to conduct judicial review of the constitutionality of laws.

“The existent political and legal regime in China does not authorize any court at any level to alter the constitution or legislation passed by the National People’s Congress,” Zhou said.

The only way to achieve marriage equality in China would be to pass legislation in the National People’s Congress, which is not on its agenda at the moment. However, high profile cases, such as Wenlin’s, help advance LGBT visibility and empower the movement in its fight for equality.

LGBT people in China are becoming increasingly visible and less marginalized and they are making important social and legal progress. Even though homosexuality is not illegal, it was only removed from the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders in 2001. LGBT people continue to lack any formal legal recognition or protections from discrimination from families, at school, at work and elsewhere.

More information about the situation for LGBT people in China can be found in our Global Spotlight report LGBT China Today: Surprising Progress yet Daunting Obstacles.

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Over 80 Anti-LGBT Bills Pending Across Nation as Arkansas State Legislative Session Begins

HRC has been on high alert this year, tracking nearly 200 anti-LGBT bills across the nation. Even though some state legislatures have already adjourned, more than 80 anti-LGBT bills are still active and several state legislatures are still in session, including Arkansas’s state legislature, which begins this week.

Last year, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed legislation that mirrored the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. While this legislation replaced the horrific H.B. 1228, it fell short of providing needed non-discrimination protections to all Arkansans. Lawmakers in Arkansas last year also eliminated the power of municipal governments to protect their LGBT residents and visitors from discrimination.

This year, the Arkansas legislative session is restricted to fiscal matters and all eyes are on the fate of the medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, which stands to impact over 200,000 Arkansans.

While it is highly unlikely that religious refusal legislation will be introduced in Arkansas this year, other types of legislation, varying from targeting the rights of transgender people, to eliminating local non-discrimination protections, to explicitly authorizing anti-LGBT discrimination by individuals, businesses and even taxpayer-funded agencies, have been introduced in the neighboring states of Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee.

These bills are part of an onslaught of anti-LGBT bills being pushed this year by anti-equality activists around the country.

To learn more about what lies ahead for equality in your backyard, visit HRC’s newest resource, “Preview 2016: Pro-Equality and Anti-LGBT State and Local Legislation.”

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