Hong Kong Top Court Approves LGBTQ Rights Appeal

Reuters reports:

Hong Kong’s top court partially approved on Tuesday a landmark appeal by an LGBTQ activist for recognition of same-sex marriages, calling for new regulations for gay couples to protect their basic social needs. The ruling by Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal followed a five-year legal battle fought by jailed democracy and LGBTQ rights activist Jimmy Sham. It was the first time that the court directly addressed the issue of same-sex marriage in the Asian financial hub.

The judges dismissed Sham’s appeal that he had a constitutional right to a same sex marriage in Hong Kong but effectively gave the government two years to ensure that rights, such as access to hospitals and inheritance, could be protected for same-sex couples. 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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Hong Kong’s top court urges alternative legal framework for same-sex couples https://t.co/4rlGT37D1w pic.twitter.com/Q9mR4uid37

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 5, 2023