Sun Wenlin and Hu Mingliang filed a lawsuit after a local officials refused to give them a marriage certificate. A judge threw out the suit Wednesday, but the couple has vowed to appeal.
Sun Wenlin, left, and Hu Mingliang.
Twitter / Via Twitter: @emilyrauhala
A judge in China has thrown out the first ever lawsuit over same sex-marriage in the country, thwarting the efforts of a couple who tried to marry last year.
Sun Wenlin and Hu Mingliang's lost their bid Wednesday to get married, the Associated Press reported. A local civil affairs bureau in Hunan Province reportedly denied the two men a marriage registration certificate in 2015, prompting them to file a lawsuit in December.
The lawsuit was the first of its kind for China, according to multiple reports, though other LGBT couples in the country have previously held informal marriage ceremonies.
The couple's case has been celebrated by LGBT activists in China, which does not currently recognize same-sex marriage. Before the ruling was handed down Wednesday, hundreds of supporters gathered at the court, the AP reported.
The couple met in 2014, according to CNN. Sun reportedly asked Hu to marry him after they saw the movie Pride. After the case was delayed earlier this year, Sun said he felt "too powerless."
Despite losing Wednesday, Sun has vowed to appeal.
"Even if we were the only gay couple in the world, we should be allowed to marry!" Sun told CNN in January. "It's the basic human right and I ought to enjoy it."
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