Gay activists take part in a protest event called "March against Hatred" in St. Petersburg November 2, 2014. The activists are marching in opposition towards the aggressive Russian government policy due to the war in Ukraine. REUTERS/Alexander D
Gay activists take part in a protest event called "March against Hatred" in St. Petersburg November 2, 2014. The activists are marching in opposition towards the aggressive Russian government policy due to the war in Ukraine. REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk

A lesbian couple has managed to get married in Russia, thanks to a legal loophole which contradicted the very statutes of the country where same-sex marriage is highly illegal. As expected, a Russian lawmaker blasted the union, calling it an insult to the reputation of the country.

Irina Shumilova and Alyona Fursova showed up on Friday before the St Petersburg registry office both clad in white wedding dresses. Both even held bouquets of flowers. The registrars panicked over how to treat the case of the two ladies, but logic apparently took over than hatred that's why the two were able to get married.

One of the "ladies," Shumilova, was found to have been born a male. Although already a transsexual or transwoman, her passport still lists her as male. Shumilova is undergoing hormone therapy to achieve her feminine looks. She had lived her entire life as a female, but unfortunately is still treated as a man by the state. The rather unfortunate fact proved to be a helpful tool in her future marriage.

Anna Anisimova, an activist working with Vykhod, an LGBT rights group in Saint-Petersburg, said the wedding progressed because according to the documents the two submitted, one of them is a man. "Formally it was a wedding between a man and a woman but de-facto it was between two women," Sky News quoted Anisimova. The legal loophole thus enabled Russia's first ever LGBT marriage.

Shumilova and Fursova reportedly signed their marriage papers before friends as witnesses. Pictures of the wedding ceremony were likewise shared Russian social network VKontakte.

Under Russia's Family Code, a marriage is "a voluntary consent of a man and a woman." The blushing Shumilova confirmed to news channel Russia Today that "yes, in my passport it says 'male.'"

As expected, lawmakers in Russia are fuming over the discrepancy which made a mockery of the country's laws. St Petersburg MP Vitaly Milonov said he will order for an investigation on the matter as well as on the legality of the union, which he described was an "ugly insult to millions of Russian families." He also said the registry office that wed Shumilova and Fursova would be tried for treason and criminal negligence.