Constructing love: Relationship maintenance strategies of same-sex couples in China’s institutional void

This study explores how same-sex couples in China build and maintain intimate relationships despite the absence of institutional protection and established social templates. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we conducted in-depth interviews with 22 self-identified gay and lesbian individuals (11 men and 11 women) across 14 Chinese cities. We describe a relationship practice that is not templated, where couples create their own forms of relationships using a mix of partial and competing influences instead of relying on a predefined template.

We term this ongoing process “constitutive negotiation.” Five recurring maintenance strategies emerged from the interviews: (1) establishing equality through economic negotiation, (2) creating private rituals in the absence of social scripts, (3) managing growth synchronicity, (4) navigating and redefining sexual intimacy, and (5) balancing a dual life across different social contexts. This work is both demanding and creative, requiring significant labor and vigilance to sustain relationships—efforts that legal recognition could alleviate. Despite these efforts, strain and separation are still common.

The findings challenge relationship maintenance theories developed in more recognition-rich Western contexts, highlighting the agency of Chinese same-sex couples while providing a provisional rather than a universal understanding of how such relationships are sustained. The authors extend their sincere appreciation to the 22 individuals who participated in this study. Their openness and courage in sharing deeply personal experiences made this research possible.

Gratitude is also expressed to the LGBTQ+ community organizations, including Tongzhi zhi Sheng (同志之声) and the Ningbo Heyi Charity Foundation (宁波合一慈善基金会), for their invaluable assistance in facilitating participant recruitment across multiple cities. This study represents a collective scholarly effort, and the contributions of all involved are deeply acknowledged. The authors declare no specific funding for this work.

The open access publication fees for this article were covered by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSK), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) open access fund. Centre for Research in Psychology and Human Well-Being (PsiTra), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSK), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, Malaysia Wang (Jerome) Jing, Lim L. Gin & Nasrudin Subhi Department of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts (FoSSLA), UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The College of Physical Education, Sichuan Normal University (SNU), Chengdu, China Correspondence to Lim L.

The authors declare no competing interests. This research derives from the first author’s PhD thesis. This study received ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of Guizhou University of Traditional Medicine (Reference Number: 2024-12-007).