Hong Kong’s Court of Appeals has ruled that the government must provide a legal framework to recognize same-sex partnerships.
A lesbian couple kiss during an event to raise awareness of gay rights at a train station in Hong Kong on May 25, 2019, one day after Taiwan made history with Asia’s first legal gay weddings. (Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)
In Hong Kong, the constitution only recognizes “marriage” as being between between a man and a woman.
Same-sex couples attend an event to raise awareness of gay rights in Hong Kong on May 25, 2019, one day after Taiwan made history with Asia’s first legal gay weddings. (Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)
The move comes after Jimmy Sham, a pro-democracy activist, sued the government for not recognizing same-sex marriage.
Hong Kong pro-democracy and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham. (Photo via @jimmyshamtszkit / Instagram)
Sham married his partner in the USA in 2013, but his marriage is not recognized in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong pro-democracy and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (C). (Photo via @jimmyshamtszkit / Instagram)
Sham, who is currently in prison under the national security law, argued that this is unconstitutional and brought the case forward in 2018.
In this picture taken on August 20, 2019, Jimmy Sham, poses during an interview with AFP in Hong Kong. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)
On Sep. 6, the court ruled that the government must provide a legal framework to recognize same-sex partnerships as there are currently no options like civil unions.
A lesbian couple take selfies during an event to raise awareness of gay rights in Hong Kong on May 25, 2019, one day after Taiwan made history with Asia’s first legal gay weddings. (Photo credit should read PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)
However, it still did not recognize that its ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
Same-sex couples attend an event to raise awareness of gay rights in Hong Kong on May 25, 2019, one day after Taiwan made history with Asia’s first legal gay weddings. (Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)
The government now has two years to create an alternative legal framework that will protect same-sex couples’ rights and “provide them with a sense of legitimacy, dispelling any sense that they belong to an inferior class of persons whose relationship is undeserving of recognition.”
Thousands of people march to Central Government Offices form Victoria Park during annual Gay Pride Parade to fight for LGBT rights. 09NOV13 (Photo by Jonathan Wong/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)
Recently, Hong Kong has given same-sex couples some of the same rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples, such as taxation and dependent visas, but never full recognition.
People take part in the LGBTQ parade in Hong Kong on November 6, 2015. (Photo by Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)
Human rights and LGBTQ organizations have called the ruling a step forward, but are calling for the government to fully recognize and legalize same-sex marriage.
People march in the LGBTQ parade in Hong Kong on November 6, 2015. (Photo by Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)
“I’d say it’s more than a small victory in Hong Kong,” the human rights program director at the University of Hong Kong, Kelley Loper, said.
A man takes part in the LGBTQ parade in Hong Kong on November 6, 2015. (Photo by Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
In August 2022, Singapore, which is also a former British colony, overturned a ban on gay sex but same-sex marriage remains illegal.
