The Chinese gay community got a slight push in the fight for their rights after Qiu Bai, a gay student activist, took the Ministry of Education to court on Wednesday over school textbooks defining homosexuality as a mental disorder. The efforts were, however, short-lived.

A government official said that the textbooks did not infringe on Qiu's right as a gay student. He, however, refused to give a direct response to her complaints that the books are spreading false and potentially dangerous information.

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The judge presiding over the case said that a final verdict would be arrived at another day before adjourning the court hearing.

Chinese officials allegedly forced journalist not to cover the news terming it as unpleasant news.

"I'm surprised and angry that our work is being censored," Qiu said in an interview. "Speaking out is not easy as I thought it would be."

Being gay is not illegal in China. However, it is not accepted culturally. Families often pressure young people to get married and have children.

"Since 2001 when homosexuality was declassified as an illness in Mainland China, 40% of the psychology and mental health teaching materials published on the mainland say homosexuality is an illness," Qiu argued.

Qiu's efforts date back to 2015 when she started legal action against the Ministry of Education as well as the publishers of a school textbook.

Qiu, 21, is a student at the Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou. In Qiu's quest to understand her sexual orientation, she reportedly referred to the university library where she made the discovery that homosexuality is described as an illness in school textbooks.

"As someone studying within the education system, when the Ministry of Education tells me that the educational materials have no connection with us and we don't deal with it, it's really disappointing," she concluded.

Tagschina, The LGBT community, China courts