“The monogamous and heterosexual marriage system” will not be compromised by a proposal to recognise some legal rights of same-sex partners married abroad, the Hong Kong government has said ahead of the bill’s introduction to the legislature next week.
The remark comes after the government proposed last week an alternative framework to recognise same-sex partnerships registered overseas, in a move to comply with a top court ruling. However, the proposed framework will not allow same-sex partners to marry locally.
“The Bill aims to establish a registration system for same-sex partnerships, so that same-sex partners can apply for registration of their same-sex partnerships,” the government said in a statement on Friday, announcing the gazettal of the Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill.
“We reiterate that establishing the alternative framework to introduce a registration system for same-sex partnerships will not compromise the Government’s established position on upholding the monogamous and heterosexual marriage system,” the statement read.
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The bill will be introduced to the legislature for its first reading on Wednesday.
The government released the proposal last week, ahead of the two-year deadline set by a Court of Final Appeal ruling in September 2023 to establish a framework recognising same-sex couples’ legal rights.
The judgment was the result of a legal challenge by LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham, who recently completed his prison sentence for subversion in Hong Kong’s largest national security case.
Debate
The bill proposes that same-sex couples be afforded rights related to medical matters, such as hospital visitation and participation in medical decisions. Partners would also be able to handle after-death arrangements, including body identification procedures and applying to cremate or bury their deceased partner.
The proposed framework has been met with resistance from lawmakers. Some said it would upend traditional familial values, while others said recognising same-sex partnerships registered overseas was functionally the same as allowing same-sex marriage in Hong Kong.
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang defended the proposal last week, saying the government “does not intend to recognise same-sex marriage.”
Meanwhile, activists and advocacy groups have criticised the framework as insufficient for same-sex couples in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Marriage Equality said it was only a “minuscule step” towards protecting same-sex relationships.
Sham said the proposal did “unimaginably little” for the “core rights of partnership,” pointing out that the financial cost of an overseas-registered marriage would also be a barrier for couples who are not as well off.
While same-sex acts were decriminalised in 1991, Hong Kong has no laws to protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination in employment, the provision of goods and services, or hate speech. Equal marriage remains illegal, although a 2023 survey showed that 60 per cent of Hongkongers supported it.
Despite repeated government appeals, courts have granted some recognition to those who married – or who entered civil partnerships – abroad in terms of tax, spousal visas, and public housing.
