Same-sex marriage supporters celebrate the U.S Supreme Court ruling regarding same-sex marriage on June 26, 2015 in San Francisco, California. (Photo : Getty Images)
A United States Consul General’s marriage with the same sex incites varying reactions in China, reiterating the country’s refusal to acknowledge the love between homosexual couples.
Hanscom Smith, a U.S. Consul General in Shanghai, has officially tied the knot with his long-time Taiwanese partner Lu Yingzong, or Eric Lu, at the San Francisco City Hall during his holiday.
According to Shanghaiist, Smith had been proud of the milestone and even shared it over his account in the widely used Chinese social media platform, Weibo.
"It is time to share some happy news with you all . . ." he wrote in a post which received mostly warm greetings and well wishes for the couple.
Among the responses they got was a photo of a beating heart from Chinese netizen Daniel Chen Dandan who captioned it with: "Respect any type of love."
Because China has yet to accept couples like Smith and Lu, their marriage stirred the Chinese media with some picking up a couple of photos from the wedding.
China.org noted that the place of their marriage "is considered a fairly important place in supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) movements."
According to the New York Times, the Chinese government has made its opinion on same-sex unions very clear when a gay couple from the Hunan Province filed a suit for the right to get married.
While a court in China accepted the lawsuit, a judge ruled against allowing the couple to be wed last month.
The NY Times interviewed Sun Wenlin, one of the men, over the phone and asked for his opinion on the U.S. Consul General's marriage.
"I support them very much. My best wishes to them," Sun said, adding that he is still hoping that China could soon become a more open-minded society and allow gay couples the right to marriage.
