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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Unclear path for same-sex couples after Hong Kong delivers blow to
marriage equality
By Chris Lau, CNN
Updated:
11:48 PM EDT, Sun September 14, 2025
Source: CNN
With their home city unable to honor their wish to get married, Dino
Wong and his boyfriend Geoffrey Yu flew more than 2,000 miles across
the ocean to Guam to tie the knot in 2019.
The trip wasn’t cheap – $5,000 just for the return flights, two
nights of accommodation and the registration fee – but it was the
best option they could find, with Hong Kong not recognizing same-sex
marriage.
It wasn’t their dream wedding – they exchanged vows in the corridor
of a nondescript government building on the western Pacific island,
without the presence of parents and guests.
There was a post-wedding party later in Hong Kong, but their marriage
has never been officially recognised at home, something Wong had always
hoped would happen.
But his hopes were dashed on Wednesday when Hong Kong’s legislature
voted down a proposed same-sex partnerships bill that would have seen
the city become the fourth place in Asia to recognize same-sex
marriages, after Taiwan, Nepal and Thailand.
Hong Kong, which markets itself as “Asia’s World City” and
China’s financial gateway to the world, decriminalized
homosexuality in 1991 but has yet to recognize same-sex marriage or
legislate against discriminations based on sexual orientation grounds.
Under the proposed bill, same-sex couples married overseas would have
been able to register their marriage in Hong Kong and be granted rights
to hospital visits and to make medical decisions on behalf of a spouse,
as well as claiming their partner’s body or deciding where their
loved one should be buried. It still didn’t afford same-sex couples
full equality, but Wong and many others in the community saw it as a
step forward.
The former British colony is generally more open-minded on LGBTQ issues
compared to , where discussion of such topics is by authorities.
But following the , imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing in 2021 after huge
and sometimes violent democracy protests, its legislature is now
without pro-democracy lawmakers who had tended to align their stance
with LGBTQ activists.
On Wednesday, 71 lawmakers of the city’s 90-strong legislature voted
against the bill. Only 14 lawmakers voted for the proposal. The
rejection of the bill, which had received the backing of the city’s
Beijing approved leader John Lee, was a rare step in a city where
legislators now usually pass government approved laws.
“I’m very disappointed that it wasn’t passed,” said Wong, who
said the passing of additional rights would have been good for his
community, as well as the city as a whole.
A blow to Hong Kong’s talent hunt
Experts and rights advocates warn the outcome could potentially dent
the financial hub’s reputation and hamper its desire to attract
global talent back to the city after years of political turmoil and
strict border measures during Covid.
Multinationals around the world have increasingly embraced support for
LGBTQ rights as a way to attract top talent and have often lobbied
governments in Asia where same-sex equality has made limited progress
— Japan for example remains the only Group of Seven (G7) nation
without legal protection for same-sex unions.
Years of lobbying and court battles by the LGBTQ community have
achieved a few successes over the past decade. Hong Kong now recognizes
same-sex marriages entered into overseas on a few narrow grounds, such
as spousal visas, tax declarations and access to public housing. Most
of these victories only came about after lengthy and expensive court
challenges sparked judicial rulings against discrimination, not because
the city’s leaders led legislative or progressive change.
As a result, same-sex couples continue to face other challenges in
other aspects of daily life, from visiting their partner at hospitals
to raising children, hurdles that families in many other global
financial capitals that look to attract top talent no longer face.
In 2019, a report commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission
has identified more than 100 ways people in unconventional
relationships are treated differently under Hong Kong law.
Hong Kong is home to many international banks, law firms and global
corporations, which have long called for the government to make the
city an attractive and welcoming place for international LGBTQ
employees – although they have become less publicly vocal since the
national security crackdown.
In a recommendation to Hong Kong’s leader ahead of his annual policy
speech later this month, the American Chamber of Commerce urged the
city to strengthen protection for the LGBTQ community,
“distinguishing the city’s legal framework from that of other
mainland cities.” The recommendation includes advocating for “full
marriage equality.”
But after Wednesday’s vote, Jerome Yau, co-founder of advocacy group
Hong Kong Marriage Equality, said it sent a message that Hong Kong is
“not a welcoming place” for LGBTQ people.
“When it comes to attracting talents, I think especially for those
who are LGBT and who are married, they will start questioning whether
they want to move to Hong Kong. And I think that would represent a
loss,” he said.
Community Business, a Asia-based non-profit organization aimed at
driving positive changes in workplaces, called it a “strategic
misstep.”
“In today’s global talent market, inclusion is a competitive
advantage. Without legal recognition and protections for LGBTQ+
individuals, Hong Kong risks losing its edge to regional peers, who are
advancing inclusive policies, as well as its in global competition for
talent,” its spokesperson said.
The city has in recent years unveiled various talent schemes and the
effort to step up its allure appears to have paid off according to a
recent survey.
The Switzerland-based International Institute for Management
Development ranked Hong Kong number four in the world and first in Asia
in its latest World Talent Ranking, released Tuesday, up by five
places.
But the Community Business spokesperson noted the other three countries
that precede Hong Kong in the ranking – Switzerland, Luxembourg and
Iceland – all recognize same-sex marriage, with emerging regional
rivals such as Taiwan also posing competition in the talent hunt.
The organization has found growing commitment towards inclusivity in
Hong Kong’s corporate world but the lack of recognition and an
anti-discrimination law leave “a significant gap,” it says.
The city’s Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, which was
responsible for the defeated bill, says Hong Kong “has long been a
diverse, inclusive and cohesive society, and also an international hub
for high-calibre talents.”
Its spokesperson says Hong Kong has received over 520,000 applications
under various talent admission schemes as of August, 350,000 of which
have been approved.
“Given our unique advantages of having the staunch support of our
country and being closely connected with the world, and the promising
development on all fronts, the (Hong Kong government) is fully
confident that quality talents will continue to live, work and settle
in Hong Kong,” they said.
Years in the making
The proposed bill was triggered by a top court’s ruling in 2023 that
required the government to set up a framework to recognize same-sex
partnerships by October this year.
Prominent gay rights activist Jimmy Sham, who brought forward the case,
says the rejection was “deeply regrettable.”
The legislature’s reluctance to pass the bill will become “an open
wound” for the LGBTQ community, he wrote in a Facebook post.
It also means the legislature looks unlikely to find a solution within
the timeframe mandated by the city’s top court.
Meanwhile, support for same same-sex marriage in Hong Kong has been on
the rise, Suen Yiu-tung, associate professor of gender studies at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong, told CNN.
He says research conducted by his team has seen the percentage of
respondents backing same-sex marriage rise from 38% in 2013 to 60%
two years ago.
Even though the proposed bill would not have drastically expand the
rights of same-sex couples, it would have been a small step, according
to Yau, from Hong Kong Marriage Equality.
“I think the significance is these relationships would be recognized,
and that would set the stage for further discussion as to how we
treat… same sex couples,” he said.
Many lawmakers speaking shortly before Wednesday’s voting, however,
saw it as an affront to the institution of family.
“Our family tradition and moral values will collapse. This will spark
further conflicts in Hong Kong,” said pro-Beijing lawmaker Holden
Chow, warning against “opening a pandora’s box.”
A spokesperson for the Hong Kong government said it respects the rule
of law as well as lawmakers’ decision, but notes the issue is
“highly controversial.”
It will further study and discuss the issue with the Department of
Justice before deciding how to proceed, the spokesperson said.
For Wong, the vote has revealed something about his home city.
“It calls itself an international financial center or an
international city. It always talks about how advanced Hong Kong is,
but it is not like that at all,” he said.
He expects the community to remain resilient and will continue to
challenge the government in court one right at a time, as they have
done in the past.
But there is a caveat. “You’ll only find out (what legal
protection) you need when things go wrong,” he said.
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