Gay Chinese Couple Faces Backlash For Declaring Their Love On College Campus

Being gay isn't illegal in China, but it's culturally condemned and widely considered to be taboo.
From: NewNowNext

 Two Beijing Renmin University students are going viral after publicly declaring their love in an impromptu public ceremony on campus on Friday, an act that some suggest could possibly lead to their expulsion.

Photos showing the couple standing inside an illuminated heart-shaped ring of lights were shared on Weibo, the Chinese social networking site similar to Facebook, and drew mixed reactions from people on both sides of the heated debate about the dismal status of LGBT rights in China.

According to the site Whats On Weibo, the man declared his love for his friend in front of a crowd by saying, “I will be with you, not to play basketball, but to kiss you.”

 Commentators called the public display of affection “disgusting” and a “disgrace,” implied that homosexuality is biologically unnatural, and claimed that mankind would “perish if everyone’s gay.”

But many others were supportive, and most condemned bigoted comments like the ones above.

“Love goes beyond gender, bless you!” one commenter wrote, while another wondered what the consequences for the students involved might be.

“If these students get expelled, I would really lose hope in Chinese universities,” they wrote.

Same-sex marriage and civil unions are not legal in China, and only about 30% of the population believe they should be. Though it isn’t illegal to be openly gay, it’s culturally condemned and widely considered to be taboo.

More recently, it’s been reported that a large number of gay Chinese adults marry gay adults of the opposite sex to satisfy their parents’ cultural expectations and to produce children, as same-sex adoption is also not possible in the country.