April 23, 2021
Legal protections that would normally apply to married couples often do not apply to the LGBT community in China.
Reuters
After more than 50 years of living with her partner, a Chinese lesbian woman in her late 70s faced a lawsuit from her partner’s family to return money, jewellery and even appliances that they shared.
The ruling came despite the judge’s acknowledgement that the couple, who are surnamed Yuan and Li, would be considered a couple by society’s standards, just not the law’s.
The case, which took place in Shenyang in China’s northeastern Liaoning province between the families of the former lesbian couple, has underlined legal gaps that can make it impossible for the LGBT community to find lawful recourse to disputes because same-sex marriage is illegal in China.
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Chinese single mothers, denied benefits, press for change
A policy that ‘encourages a husband and wife to have two children’ is at the local level often interpreted as excluding unmarried mothers
By Wu Huizhong / AP, TAIPEI
Sarah Gao had a busy job. As the head of a 500 million yuan (US$77 million) investment fund, she was constantly flying across China on business trips. Then she found out that she was pregnant from her then-boyfriend.
Her pregnancy was unplanned, but Gao, at the time 40 years old, thought that she would not have any more chances and decided to keep the baby.
What she did not realize was how the decision would lead to a nearly four-year legal battle for her maternity benefits.
Sarah Gao had a busy job. As the head of a 500 million yuan ($76.8 million) investment fund, she was constantly flying across China on business trips. Then she found out she was pregnant. Her pregnancy, with her then-boyfriend, was unplanned. But Gao, who was 40, thought she wouldn't have any more chances, and decided…