A gay male couple held their wedding ceremony at a park in Beijing despite warnings from the local police not to do so.

Ling Jueding, 34, and Gino, 27, finally had their wedding ceremony on 27 June after having to change the venue nearly 10 times due to intervention from local police, according to China’s Global Times.

The couple found themselves without a venue the day before their scheduled ceremony. With less than five hours to the ceremony, a private club agreed to host their wedding.

Although same-sex marriage is not recognized under Chinese law, the couple, who are both internet entrepreneurs in businesses related to China’s LGBT community, said their vows in the presence of some 200 family and friends.

In a caption for a photo series in China’s Global Times, Gino said while posing for wedding photos at Beijing’s Yongdingmen Gate, ‘We’re used to getting strange looks.’

‘We had this wedding not only for ourselves, but also to help change people’s prejudices,’ he added.

The two men, who have been dating for two years, say they are planning to register their marriage in Los Angeles in the US in August.

On 2 July, a lesbian couple in Beijing held a symbolic marriage ceremony with friends and reporters in attendance to push for legal recognition of gay marriage in China.

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