Chinese couple lose fight for gay marriage recognition

In the first case of its kind in China, a judge on Wednesday ruled that a gay couple cannot register as married.

Sun Wenlin and Hu Mingliang filed a lawsuit against Changsha city authorities after their application to register a union was rejected, BBC reported.

China does not legally recognise same-sex marriage, but there is growing awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

There were cheers for Sun, 27, and Hu, 37, as they entered the court, from hundreds of supporters who had gathered outside. Authorities allowed about 100 of them inside.

The court dismissed the case a few hours after the hearing started.

The couple's lawyer, Shi Funong, said he had expected the judgement to go against them, but not so quickly.

"It goes against the spirit of the laws of China," he said.

Sun said he would appeal against Wednesday's court decision.

The two men had tried to register their union in June last year and filed the lawsuit in December.

Sun said police had visited him after he filed the case to try to persuade him to drop it, but he refused.

"The original text of the Marriage Law does not say one man and one woman, but a husband and a wife. I personally believe that this term refers not only to heterosexual couples but also to same-sex couples," he said earlier.