A video showing one man proposing to another has provoked thousands of comments and gone viral after it was posted on a Chinese social media site.
The video, filmed on a mobile phone by a passer-by, shows one going down on one knee before his boyfriend on the Beijing Subway and announcing:
“Today, I invite all the people we know and do not know to bear witness.”
He then takes a watch out of a box and presents it to his boyfriend. Other passengers on their train cheer and applaud, some shouting ‘kiss!’, although one person can heard to say ‘disgusting!’.
The video was uploaded to popular Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo, which functions in a similar way to Twitter, under the title Mid-autumn festival man proposes to his boyfriend, a reference to a major annual celebration in China also known as the Moon Festival.
The uploader explained:
“As usual, I was taking the subway home, but contrary to what I was expecting, I encountered a couple’s love… I think this is really incredible.”
They added:
“I believe the road they walk is certainly not a simple one. As a spectator, I can only send my sincere blessings.”
The video has since attracted thousands of shares and comments, many supportive of the unnamed couple.
One comment, which attracted more than 600 likes, reads:
“Those who say this is disgusting, you are not qualified to judge others.”
Another viewer declared:
“You should admire their courage. Just because they are people you don’t understand, and even with the pressures of those looking down on them as ‘sinful’, they are still brave to express their love.”
Despite the proposal, the two men will not be able to formalise their relationship without leaving the country, as China does not recognise same sex marriage.
Watch the video here.
