A British diplomat has become a gay icon in China after marrying his American partner on the lawn of the ambassador's residence in Beijing.
Brian Davidson, the consul general of Shanghai, and Scott Chang wore bow-ties and matching slippers as they wed in front of around 60 guests at the weekend.
Gay unions are not legal in China, where the government adopts a "three nots" approach to homosexuality: not approved, not disapproved, not promoted.
So when Mr Davidson posted pictures of his wedding on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, they quickly drew attention.
In one picture, Sir Sebastian Wood, the British ambassador, posed with one of the wedding programmes which said: "Keep Calm and Marry On.
"I am very proud that the law in the United Kingdom today affords me the same rights as any other British national to be married to whomever I love," Mr Davidson wrote on Weibo, in a comment that was reposted some 30,000 times and which drew 20,000 largely supportive comments.
"Gay marriage is about one person getting married to another person. What is the difference between this and a straight marriage?" asked one commenter. "It is all about love. Everyone should come out and be brave and I wish you a good life."
Other commenters pointed out that many gay men in China are forced into unhappy marriages by parental pressure. "I know lots of gay professors, doctors, lawyers and judges. They all hide their real sexuality, but they should prove to everyone in China that there is nothing evil about homosexuality," wrote one person.
Mr Davidson said he was astonished by the response. "It was completely unexpected. I assumed that only a few of our friends would forward it."
"I think it also shows that modern Britain is quite different from many people's perceptions," he added. "The scale of the coverage has been a bit daunting, but it has mostly been very positive. A lot of our Chinese friends have taken it as a positive thing that we are not hiding that we are in love and married."
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