7 Lucky Chinese Couples Get Married in West Hollywood

Seven gay couples from China who won a contest made the long trip to West Hollywood, CA this week to get married. According to the Los Angeles Times, 

The “We Do” contest, as it was called, was sponsored by the e-commerce behemoth Alibaba and its shopping site Taobao, as well as China’s largest gay dating app, Blued. The couples got marriage licenses at the Beverly Hills Courthouse this week. Though their marriages will not be recognized in China, they are legal in the U.S.

For reasons of social acceptance and parental pressure, many gay men in China — up to 80% by some estimates — will marry women. Homosexuality was severely punished during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 under a statute forbidding “hooliganism.” Officially, gay sex was a criminal offense until 1997.
“In the past, homosexuality, gambling and prostitution were all considered dirty subjects and not allowed in the media,” said Li Yinhe, a Chinese sociologist and sexologist. But as the country’s economy has developed and tolerance has grown, the Chinese government has taken a somewhat agnostic approach toward homosexuality, neither banning nor endorsing it, Li said.

The seven happy couples walked down the aisle to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in a ceremony held at the West Hollywood Library. As contest winners, the couples had all of their expenses like catering, hotel accommodations and gifts paid for by the sponsors of the contest.

Gay dating apps have exploded in popularity in China and gay weddings are becoming highly talked about events in China. In September, a British diplomat and his Chinese partner made headlines when they got married in Bejing.