On Wednesday, nine Chinese gay and transgender couples tied the knot aboard a cruise ship heading to Japan.

Even though China doesn't recognize same-sex marriage, the couples came from across the country for the mass ceremony, part of a weeklong series of Pride events. There were nearly 800 witnesses to the event, which was held in waters near Shanghai.

Aries Liu, a 32-year-old transgender man, was overjoyed when his parents agreed to come watch him and his wife say "I do." He's been out as trans for nearly 20 years, but his parents just came to accept his gender identity last year.

"It's amazing to have my parents there as witnesses," Liu told Reuters. "Over all these years, I have been paving the way to acceptance bit by bit."

Progress on LGBT rights has been slow in China: Homosexuality was decriminalized 1997, but was stillconsidered a mental disorder until 2001. Textbooks still refer to being gay as an “illness” and depictions of homosexuality are widely censored in Chinese TV and movies.

Only 3% of queer Chinese men, and 6% of women, say they are “fully out.” Most, bowing to familial pressure, are in opposite sex marriages.

Last month, around the same time Taiwan's high court ruled in favor of marriage equality, police in Xi'an shut down an LGBT conference and detained activists. The week prior, authorities kicked the parents of LGBT singles out of Shanghai's famous "marriage market."

Sill, Liu is optimistic.

"If you'd asked me if China would legalize gay marriage five years ago, I'd tell you maybe in 30 years," he said. "But with the recent ruling in Taiwan, and the campaigns and movements we've done in the past couple of years to raise awareness, I think in ten years we'll see it happen."