Hong Kong's Top Court To Rule On Same-sex Marriage

Hong Kong's top court will rule Tuesday on whether to recognise same-sex marriages in a landmark case for the LGBTQ community's long fight for equality in the Chinese city.

Over the past decade, LGBTQ activists in the former British colony have won piecemeal victories in court, striking down discriminatory government policies on visas, taxes and housing benefits.

But the case brought by jailed pro-democracy activist Jimmy Sham -- set to be decided at 2:30 pm (0630 GMT) Tuesday -- will be the first time Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal has directly addressed the issue of same-sex marriage.

Since launching his challenge in 2018, Sham, 36, has twice failed to convince the courts that Hong Kong should legally recognise his marriage to a same-sex partner, which was registered in New York nearly a decade ago.

In his most recent setback, in August 2022, appeal judges wrote that Hong Kong's constitutional text "only provides access to the institution of marriage to heterosexual couples".

Sham has argued the city's ban on same-sex marriage violates his right to equality, while the lack of a policy alternative -- such as civil unions -- does the same, in addition to breaching his right to privacy.

British rights lawyer Karon Monaghan, representing Sham, told the court in June the ban disadvantages same-sex couples in areas such as inheritance and housing rentals.

Gender studies scholar Suen Yiu-tung said Hong Kong decriminalised sexual acts between adult men in 1991, but still has "no protection against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity".

Local courts have struck down discriminatory policies "domain-by-domain" but that approach resulted in a "really, really long journey", Suen told AFP.

Tuesday's case was different because it asked for a more "wholesale" recognition of same-sex marriage, but that also means success "might be more difficult", he added.

In Asia only Nepal and Taiwan recognise same-sex marriage while in South Korea lawmakers have recently introduced legislation that would recognise same-sex partnerships.

A poll this year found that 60 percent of Hong Kongers supported same-sex marriage, compared to just 38 percent a decade ago.

Some international businesses in the city have also backed marriage equality campaigns, crediting it as a way to attract talent.

But the city's Beijing-approved leadership has shown little appetite for passing laws that advance LGBTQ equality.

Rights advocacy has partly gone underground after Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in the finance hub.

Sham, a prominent democracy campaigner, is one of dozens of activists behind bars awaiting prosecution under the security law on charges unrelated to LGBTQ rights.

In July, a radio show promoting gay rights aired by Hong Kong's public broadcaster was cancelled after a 17-year run.