LGBT couple Sun Wenlin and his partner appear before the case heard in Changsha, central China's Hunan province on April 13, 2016. 

A court in Central China's Hunan province holds a hearing on a case of a gay couple who sued a government agency for not allowing them to register their marriage on April 13th, 2016.

This is the first case recorded in China's legal history where a same-sex couple is seeking the right to marry through legal means.

One of the men, surnamed Sun, and his partner went to the marriage registration office in Changsha City in central China's Hunan Province in June last year, but were rejected by the office staff who said the laws did not allow gay marriage.

The couple made a vain attempt to argue with the staff and then found an attorney to help them file a lawsuit against the civil affairs bureau of Changsha's Furong district on Dec 2015.

The case was supposed to go on trial in Jan 2016. However, the couple was informed two days before the previously set date that the date for the hearing was postponed to April 13.

LGBT people account for over 4 percent of China's population, according to Li Yinhe, the country's best known sexologist.