Gay marriage ceremony in Chengdu

One of the first recorded gay marriage ceremonies in China happened last week. 47-year-old Zeng Ge and 27-year-old Xiao Pan tied the knot in a small bar in Chengdu on January 3rd. China currently doesn't recognize homosexual unions.

Says the pictorial by Netease, Xiao Pan counts as Zeng Ge's "second wife," since he had already married a dance instructor (female) in 1983 and had a daughter. But since he knew he was gay, "it wasn't fair to the wife, she was a good woman." The two of them separated, and then he met Xiao Pan.

At the ceremony, while most were from Xiao Pan and Zeng Ge's inner circle, there were a couple of onlookers. As they put their rings on each other, some "acted as if they were watching animals, some even kept pointing here and there," said Zeng Ge.

Their families didn't quite understand them either, though Zeng Ge and Xiao Pan patiently continued to try to convince them. Zeng Ge's daughter, who finally understood her father's pain after years of repression, sent him a text message: "Dad, life is short, the most important thing is your own happiness. You with another man, I don't support, I don't oppose."

The two men hugged each other on their wedding platform. "I hope that our feelings will one day be recognized by society. To be able to make it to today was too hard. You have to bear the judgment of strangers and the lack of understanding of your own family," said Xiao Pan after the ceremony.