Hong Kong law proposes recognition for same-sex couples who wed abroad
"We must make careful deliberations and... strike a balance, to avoid causing social rifts," says Hong Kong government
By Aaron Sugg
The Hong Kong government announced on Wednesday (2 July) it will propose legislation recognising limited rights for same-sex couples married abroad.
This comes after Hong Kong’s top court upheld that marriage is limited to opposite-sex couples in 2022, but ordered the government to create an “alternative framework” recognising some legal rights for same-sex couples within two years.
Now time has passed, in a policy paper published on Wednesday, the Hong Kong government wrote it “recommends legislation to allow same-sex couples to apply for registration under a newly established registration mechanism”.
Hong Kong proposes that at least one partner from a same-sex couple must be a Hong Kong resident, and the couple must be lawfully married overseas.
However, rights would be limited to healthcare-related decisions, such as hospital visits, medical decisions, sharing information, organ donation and rights related to a deceased person’s body.
“We must make careful deliberations” – Hong Kong government
The government added: “There are different views in society regarding the legal recognition of same-sex couples’ relationships.
“We must make careful deliberations and… strike a balance, to avoid causing social rifts and affecting social harmony.”
Jimmy Sham, a prominent pro-democracy and LGBTQ+ activist in Hong Kong told The Associated Press that the eligibility restriction “seems not to comply with the principle of equality”, adding that he hoped Hong Kong’s legislature will hold public hearings.
Sham said limiting eligibility to same-sex couples who wed overseas would create financial and practical hurdles.
Jerome Yau, co-founder of Hong Kong Marriage Equality, said the government document was “very conservative” and “far from acceptable”.
The proposal does not include rights related to housing, inheritance and tax benefits – these were part of a separate legal victory in 2024, but are absent from the new policy paper.
This comes after authorities in China arrested “at least 30 people”, for writing gay erotica in a recent crackdown on pornography.
China has not yet legalised same-sex marriage nor does it have specific laws on discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.