Hong Kong's top court rules in favor of equal inheritance and housing benefits for same-sex couples

HONG KONG — Hong Kong's top court on Tuesday upheld earlier rulings that favored subsidized housing benefits and equal inheritance rights for same-sex married couples, in a landmark victory for the city's LGBTQ+ community.

The Court of Final Appeal's dismissal of the government's appeals ended some yearslong legal battles over the differential treatment facing same-sex couples married overseas under Hong Kong's Housing Authority policies and two inheritance laws.

The unanimous decisions are expected to have a far-reaching impact on the lives of same-sex couples, who have traditionally had fewer rights compared to their heterosexual counterparts in the global financial hub.

Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said in his judgement that exclusionary housing policies were argued to be beneficial to opposite-sex married couples because they increase the supply of subsidized housing for them and thereby support the institution of traditional families.

But Cheung said authorities failed to provide evidence showing the potential impact on opposite-sex couples if those policies were relaxed.

''The challenged policies cannot be justified,'' he wrote.

On the inheritance laws, judges Roberto Ribeiro and Joseph Fok ruled that the disputed provisions are ''discriminatory and unconstitutional" in their written judgement.

Hong Kong does not recognize same-sex marriage, prompting some couples to marry elsewhere.

Currently, the city only recognizes same-sex marriage for certain purposes such as taxation, civil service benefits and dependent visas. Many of the government's concessions were won through legal challenges, and the city has seen a growing social acceptance toward same-sex marriage.

In September 2023, the top court ruled that the government should provide a framework for recognizing same-sex partnerships. This ruling, along with other successful legal challenges brought by members of the LGBTQ+ community, made Hong Kong the only place in China to grant such recognition for same-sex couples.

In separate judgements handed down in 2020 and 2021, a lower court had ruled that the housing policies involved in Tuesday's cases violated the constitutional right to equality, and that excluding same-sex spouses from inheritance law benefits constituted unlawful discrimination.

The government had challenged these decisions at the Court of Appeal but subsequently lost in October 2023. It then took the cases to the top court.

''This is not only fighting for me and for my partner, but this is fighting for all the same-sex couples in Hong Kong,'' he said outside the court building.

But he added he was still ''a bit pessimistic'' about whether Hong Kong could become like Taiwan and Thailand in legalizing same-sex marriage.

Hong Kong Marriage Equality, a non-governmental organization, said in a statement that the judges' decisions made it clear that discrimination and differential treatment on the grounds of sexual orientation violate human dignity and equality. It called on the government to immediately end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage.

The top court's rulings also concluded a long legal journey taken by Henry Li and his late partner, Edgar Ng. After they married in Britain in 2017, Ng bought a subsidized flat as his matrimonial home with Li.

The Housing Authority, however, said Li could not be added as an authorized occupant of the flat in the capacity of Ng's family member because same-sex married partners do not fall within its definition of ''spouse." Ng was also concerned that if he died intestate, his proprieties would not be passed to Li, the court heard.

After the rulings, Li posted a message on his Facebook account, saying that although he has lived in pain in the absence of Ng, he has not given up his husband's aspiration to pursue equality.