A nineteen year old LGBT activist in China has become to first gay man to lodge a lawsuit against the government over it’s stance on gay rights.
When 19 year old student Xiang Xiaohan attempted to register his organisation Same-Sex Love Assistance Network he was told that; “homosexuality had no place in Chinese traditional culture and ‘the building of spiritual civilisation,'”
As homosexuality was decriminalised in 1997 and the government stopped referring to it as a mental illness in 2003 Xiang has taken to the courts lodging a lawsuit against the Hunan government. The Hunan province is in the south central part of the country.
Mr Xiang said the government’s response defamed all gay and lesbian’s people in China and he requested a written apology and the decision not to register the organisation to be reversed. When the case reached court it was rejected with the court ruling that the government had only offered ‘administrative guidance’. The decision is being appealed.
The case has had other positive outcome for the group though with China’s official news service reporting on the issue. Mr Xiang has also praised the court for handling his case in an open and transparent way, something that may not have occurred a few years ago.
Source: BBC
