RICKY AND ZAK
RICKY AND ZAK’S ROMANCE WAS OF THE WHIRLWIND VARIETY! AFTER JUST TWO MONTHS DATING, THEY KNEW THEY WANTED TO MAKE IT FORMAL. SO, WHEN MARRIAGE EQUALITY BECAME LEGAL IN AUSTRALIA, THEY TIED THE KNOT! BUT THERE WAS TROUBLE AHEAD…
Are you kidding me?” This is most people’s reaction when they hear that 29-year-old Ricky Zhang and 24-year-old Zak Liu decided to get married after knowing each other for just two months.
“It’s natural for them to have questions,” Ricky told DNA. “Many people don’t believe in true love at the first sight but, luckily, we found it.”
The couple, who were married on January 12, believe they are the first Chinese gay couple to wed under Australia’s amended Marriage Act, which was changed last December following the “yes” result in the postal survey.
“Our wedding caused discussion among Melbourne’s Chinese gay people – there is no other Chinese gay couple who got married; just us.”
Two months before their wedding, Zak and Ricky met through a gay dating app. Zak says he was logging-on every morning, looking for Mr Right. “I broke up with my last boyfriend because of personal issues.”
Zak was in four-year relationship that he says was one-sided. He felt the love he put into the relationship wasn’t reciprocated.
Zak and Ricky met not long after that relationship ended.
“He noticed me and said hello,” Ricky explains of how the two met via app. “There is a love story secretly happening between us. Next, we date and hang out, like most lovers do.”
“He told me his last awful relationship with another guy. I told myself, after listening to his sad story, that I should treat him very well to compensate for all his painful experiences in the last relationship. He deserves a better guy to love him.”
The couple had already planned to marry before the historic same-sex marriage announcement, and were together the day the law changed. “We nearly cried and cannot say any words when friends tell us it. We embraced and kissed each other without stop,” they say.
Not all their friends accepted the news of their intention to wed after knowing each other for such a short period of time. “Gradually, they understood our decision and gave us their sincere blessing,” says Ricky.
On the morning of the wedding, though, the nervous couple accidentally went to the wrong venue and almost missed their ceremony, but with the help of friends they found the correct venue in time to make their vows and say, “I do.”
“We had a few close friends who attended our wedding, including my Aussie mum, Chris. Both our families live in China so there were no family members at the ceremony,” says Zak.
“The day was amazing, full of happiness and blessings for both Zak and me,” says Ricky.
Despite the whirlwind romance, the boys’ marriage doesn’t have the happy-ever-after fairy tale ending you might expect – well, not yet. While Zak is a permanent resident of Australia, Ricky isn’t. For visa reasons, in order for the couple to live together, Ricky has had to go back to China and must live there for a year before he can return to Australia and his new husband.
Originally, the couple planned on not telling their parents about their marriage. “They will not accept us,” Ricky told DNA back in January, “We’ll tell them once we have been married two or three years,” he said. However, since returning to Beijing, Ricky has been unable to keep the secret and has revealled the news to his family.
“They are heartbroken,” reports Zak, still in Melbourne. “They don’t believe gay marriage can be true marriage. They have not had a good education and can’t accept us. Ricky feels very sad about this and I feel a long way away – I can’t help him. But we speak every day – every hour!” says Zak.
Zak is planning a trip to visit Ricky in China next month but says that he’s not ready to meet Ricky’s parents.
Despise the visa laws keeping the couple apart, and the fact that gay marriage is forbidden in China, the boys have shared their love story in the hope that they can help other Chinese gay couples find happiness.
“We do not need to feel shameful and depressed. There are lots of LGBT friends and supporters to stand by us. Love makes this world move, and we are proud to be part of the love,” says Ricky.
We do not feel shameful and depressed. There are lots of LGBT friends and supporters to stand by us. – Ricky