Hong Kong's top court to decide on same-sex marriage

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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 that 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," said Sham.

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 canceled after a 17-year run.

香港最高法院将对同性婚姻作出裁决

香港最高法院将于周二就是否承认同性婚姻做出裁决，这是 LGBTQ 群体在这座中国城市争取平等的长期斗争中具有里程碑意义的案件。

过去十年，这个前英国殖民地的 LGBTQ 活动人士在法庭上取得了阶段性胜利，推翻了政府在签证、税收和住房福利方面的歧视性政策。

但被监禁的民主活动人士岑子杰提起的案件定于周二下午 2:30（格林威治标准时间 0630）作出裁决，这将是香港终审法院首次直接解决同性问题婚姻。

自 2018 年发起挑战以来，36 岁的岑先生曾两次未能说服法院，香港应合法承认他与同性伴侣的婚姻，而他与同性伴侣的婚姻近十年前在纽约登记。

在 2022 年 8 月的最近一次挫折中，上诉法官写道，香港的宪法文本“只为异性恋夫妇提供了进入婚姻制度的机会”。

岑先生辩称，该市禁止同性婚姻侵犯了他的平等权，而缺乏替代政策（例如民事结合）除了侵犯了他的隐私权之外，也同样侵犯了他的平等权。

沙姆的代表英国维权律师卡伦·莫纳汉 (Karon Monaghan) 6 月向法庭表示，该禁令在继承和住房租赁等领域对同性伴侣不利。

性别研究学者孙耀东表示，香港于1991年将成年男性之间的性行为合法化，但“仍然没有针对基于性取向和性别认同的歧视提供保护”。

孙告诉法新社，地方法院已经“逐个领域”地废除了歧视性政策，但这种做法导致了“非常非常漫长的旅程”。

周二的案件有所不同，因为它要求对同性婚姻给予更“全面”的认可，但这也意味着成功“可能会更加困难”，他补充道。