Plantiffs: Ms. Ge & Mr. Yang
Case: My husband is in love with my brother
Sounds like a bad lifetime movie? It's a real case with real consequences. In 2008, Ms. Ge apparently found the perfect husband. When they were dating, Mr. Yang was a perfect gentleman in every aspect. When he was allowed to stay over, he even suggested that he stay in her brother's room. Such respect and self control, who could ask for a husband better than that. Things progressed, and they wed in 2009. Yet, it seems that the self control Mr. Yang possessed didn't diminish even after they were married. He still preferred her brother's room. Whatever could that mean?
Never-mind the fact that Ms.Ge never found it odd that her husband didn't sleep with her for three whole years after they are married (once again proving that a healthy sex-life is the one true barometer of a healthy relationship), it wasn't until the poor Ms. Ge found bundles of love letters by her husband to her brother under a stash of gay porn, that she finally wrote a dramatic note stating her intentions: "我要离婚!".
Now, I will be the first to confess that I didn't dig too deep into the story. I just enjoyed this rather interesting Shakespearean comedy unfolding in China. Bloomberg News saw it fitting to use this story to extrapolate this story into a piece about woman's rights vs gay rights in China. The Chinese media however is a lot more nuanced. They chose to focus mainly on the court's decision to not find Mr. Yang at fault for the dissolution of the marriage. Apparently, if you unwittingly married a gay man in China, it's not his fault.
I found the court statement regarding their findings especially amusing (I'm translating loosely and paraphrasing, so bear with me):
According to Chinese marriage laws, a marriage may be terminated due to irreconcilable differences between the two parties. Although, the sexual orientation of one party may cause negative emotional antagonism between husband and wife, it is not clear that constitutes as irreconcilable difference. There are no current precedent in China to grant divorce on the grounds of sexual orientation. The current law only grants compensation in cases of domestic violence, polygamy, cohabitation and neglect, the court can not find Mr. Yang at fault and have him compensate for Ms. Ge.
The judge finally ruled the case as an amicable divorce. Mr. Yang settled with Ms. Ge outside of court for a few thousand dollars for what I could only assume to be emotional (or lack of physical) damages. In the US where we are constantly bombarded with political fights about gay marriage, it is rather surreal to know that in China, at least gay divorce is pretty legal.
Now, I think it's time for everyone to re-watch the Wedding Banquet and have a good time.
No comments:
Post a Comment