CHINA: Lawyers Petition Government To Consider Same-Sex Marriage

The South China Morning Post reports:

Ten rights lawyers petitioned a key National People's Congress commission yesterday, calling for legitimising same-sex marriage on the mainland, ahead of today's annual International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. The lawyers, from law firms across the mainland, signed a joint letter calling for the law committee of the NPC to study the legalisation of gay marriage. "The most effective way to eliminate discrimination against homosexuality is to acknowledge same-sex couples' rights to marriage," said Huang Yizhi, one of two female Beijing lawyers who organised the campaign.

The paper estimates that there are 40 million gay people in China.