Hong Kong court rules in favour of same-sex unions but refuses marriage rights

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

58% : Jerome Yau, co-founder of Hong Kong Marriage Equality, said the ruling marked a "major development" for the community for the recognition of same-sex marriage.
51% : The court "unanimously dismisses the appeal in relation" to same-sex marriage and recognition of foreign same-sex marriage, it said.
51% : The ruling comes following a five-year legal battle fought by jailed pro-democracy activist Jimmy Sham, who had appealed to the government in 2018 for recognition of overseas same-sex marriages.
51% : Recent surveys in 2023 found 60 per cent of the respondents in Hong Kong supported same-sex marriage, a 38 per cent rise since 2013.
50% : The court granted two years' time to the city administration to ensure rights, such as access to hospitals and inheritance, in an effort to protect same-sex couples.
48% : Mr Sham, 36, married his partner in New York in 2013 and twice lost in lower courts after launching his bid for the Asian financial hub to recognise overseas same-sex marriages.
48% : The easiest thing for the city administration to do was "provide same-sex marriage in substance" by amending the relevant legislation, he told the newspaper.
46% : "The absence of legal recognition has been seen to be essentially discriminatory and demeaning to same-sex couples."Lawyers and activists say the court ruling would have a far-reaching impact on the LGBTQ+ community and force the city administration to create legal regime to allow smoother inheritance and insurance options as well as tax allowances, among other rights.
37% : Same-sex couples also need to "have a sense of legitimacy which dispels any sense of them belonging to an inferior class of person whose committed and stable relationships are undeserving of recognition", the panel of judges, including chief justice Andrew Cheung, wrote.
37% : Judges Roberto Ribeiro and Joseph Fok noted that same-sex couples face "real difficulties in many situations".
37% : Mainland China decriminalised homosexuality in 1997, and in 2001, removed it from its list of mental illnesses, but same-sex marriage is not recognised and no official legal protections exist.

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