With their home city Hong Kong unable to honor their wish to get married, Dino Wong and his boyfriend Geoffrey Yu flew more than 2,000 miles across the ocean to Guam to tie the knot in 2019.
The trip wasn’t cheap – $5,000 just for the return flights, two nights of accommodation and the registration fee – but it was the best option they could find, with Hong Kong not recognizing same-sex marriage.
It wasn’t their dream wedding – they exchanged vows in the corridor of a nondescript government building on the western Pacific island, without the presence of parents and guests.
There was a post-wedding party later in Hong Kong, but their marriage has never been officially recognised at home, something Wong had always hoped would happen.
But his hopes were dashed on Wednesday when Hong Kong’s legislature voted down a proposed same-sex partnerships bill that would have seen the city become the fourth place in Asia to recognize same-sex marriages, after Taiwan, Nepal and Thailand.
Hong Kong, which markets itself as “Asia’s World City” and China’s financial gateway to the world, decriminalized homosexuality in 1991 but has yet to recognize same-sex marriage or legislate against discriminations based on sexual orientation grounds.
Under the proposed bill, same-sex couples married overseas would have been able to register their marriage in Hong Kong and be granted rights to hospital visits and to make medical decisions on behalf of a spouse, as well as claiming their partner’s body or deciding where their loved one should be buried. It still didn’t afford same-sex couples full equality, but Wong and many others in the community saw it as a step forward.
The former British colony is generally more open-minded on LGBTQ issues compared to mainland China, where discussion of such topics is heavily policed by authorities.
But following the “patriots-only” elections framework, imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing in 2021 after huge and sometimes violent democracy protests, its legislature is now without pro-democracy lawmakers who had tended to align their stance with LGBTQ activists.
A screen displays the voting results rejecting the registration of same-sex partnerships bill. – Tyrone Siu/Reuters
On Wednesday, 71 lawmakers of the city’s 90-strong legislature voted against the bill. Only 14 lawmakers voted for the proposal. The rejection of the bill, which had received the backing of the city’s Beijing approved leader John Lee, was a rare step in a city where legislators now usually pass government approved laws.
“I’m very disappointed that it wasn’t passed,” said Wong, who said the passing of additional rights would have been good for his community, as well as the city as a whole.
A blow to Hong Kong’s talent hunt
Experts and rights advocates warn the outcome could potentially dent the financial hub’s reputation and hamper its desire to attract global talent back to the city after years of political turmoil and strict border measures during Covid.
Multinationals around the world have increasingly embraced support for LGBTQ rights as a way to attract top talent and have often lobbied governments in Asia where same-sex equality has made limited progress — Japan for example remains the only Group of Seven (G7) nation without legal protection for same-sex unions.
Years of lobbying and court battles by the LGBTQ community have achieved a few successes over the past decade. Hong Kong now recognizes same-sex marriages entered into overseas on a few narrow grounds, such as spousal visas, tax declarations and access to public housing. Most of these victories only came about after lengthy and expensive court challenges sparked judicial rulings against discrimination, not because the city’s leaders led legislative or progressive change.
As a result, same-sex couples continue to face other challenges in other aspects of daily life, from visiting their partner at hospitals to raising children, hurdles that families in many other global financial capitals that look to attract top talent no longer face.
In 2019, a report commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission has identified more than 100 ways people in unconventional relationships are treated differently under Hong Kong law.
The HSBC Holdings Plc logo atop a tram station outside the bank’s headquarters building in Hong Kong. – Lam Yik/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Hong Kong is home to many international banks, law firms and global corporations, which have long called for the government to make the city an attractive and welcoming place for international LGBTQ employees – although they have become less publicly vocal since the national security crackdown.
In a recommendation to Hong Kong’s leader ahead of his annual policy speech later this month, the American Chamber of Commerce urged the city to strengthen protection for the LGBTQ community, “distinguishing the city’s legal framework from that of other mainland cities.” The recommendation includes advocating for “full marriage equality.”
But after Wednesday’s vote, Jerome Yau, co-founder of advocacy group Hong Kong Marriage Equality, said it sent a message that Hong Kong is “not a welcoming place” for LGBTQ people.
“When it comes to attracting talents, I think especially for those who are LGBT and who are married, they will start questioning whether they want to move to Hong Kong. And I think that would represent a loss,” he said.
Community Business, a Asia-based non-profit organization aimed at driving positive changes in workplaces, called it a “strategic misstep.”
“In today’s global talent market, inclusion is a competitive advantage. Without legal recognition and protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, Hong Kong risks losing its edge to regional peers, who are advancing inclusive policies, as well as its in global competition for talent,” its spokesperson said.
The city has in recent years unveiled various talent schemes and the effort to step up its allure appears to have paid off according to a recent survey.
The Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development ranked Hong Kong number four in the world and first in Asia in its latest World Talent Ranking, released Tuesday, up by five places.
But the Community Business spokesperson noted the other three countries that precede Hong Kong in the ranking – Switzerland, Luxembourg and Iceland – all recognize same-sex marriage, with emerging regional rivals such as Taiwan also posing competition in the talent hunt.
The organization has found growing commitment towards inclusivity in Hong Kong’s corporate world but the lack of recognition and an anti-discrimination law leave “a significant gap,” it says.
The city’s Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, which was responsible for the defeated bill, says Hong Kong “has long been a diverse, inclusive and cohesive society, and also an international hub for high-calibre talents.”
Its spokesperson says Hong Kong has received over 520,000 applications under various talent admission schemes as of August, 350,000 of which have been approved.
“Given our unique advantages of having the staunch support of our country and being closely connected with the world, and the promising development on all fronts, the (Hong Kong government) is fully confident that quality talents will continue to live, work and settle in Hong Kong,” they said.
Years in the making
Hong Kong pro-democracy and LGBTQ rights activist Jimmy Sham at the Legislative Council Complex in Hong Kong on the day of the voting. – Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
The proposed bill was triggered by a top court’s ruling in 2023 that required the government to set up a framework to recognize same-sex partnerships by October this year.
Prominent gay rights activist Jimmy Sham, who brought forward the case, says the rejection was “deeply regrettable.”
The legislature’s reluctance to pass the bill will become “an open wound” for the LGBTQ community, he wrote in a Facebook post.
It also means the legislature looks unlikely to find a solution within the timeframe mandated by the city’s top court.
Meanwhile, support for same same-sex marriage in Hong Kong has been on the rise, Suen Yiu-tung, associate professor of gender studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told CNN.
He says research conducted by his team has seen the percentage of respondents backing same-sex marriage rise from 38% in 2013 to 60% two years ago.
Even though the proposed bill would not have drastically expand the rights of same-sex couples, it would have been a small step, according to Yau, from Hong Kong Marriage Equality.
“I think the significance is these relationships would be recognized, and that would set the stage for further discussion as to how we treat… same sex couples,” he said.
Lawmakers vote in the Legislative Council Chamber. – Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
Many lawmakers speaking shortly before Wednesday’s voting, however, saw it as an affront to the institution of family.
“Our family tradition and moral values will collapse. This will spark further conflicts in Hong Kong,” said pro-Beijing lawmaker Holden Chow, warning against “opening a pandora’s box.”
A spokesperson for the Hong Kong government said it respects the rule of law as well as lawmakers’ decision, but notes the issue is “highly controversial.”
It will further study and discuss the issue with the Department of Justice before deciding how to proceed, the spokesperson said.
For Wong, the vote has revealed something about his home city.
“It calls itself an international financial center or an international city. It always talks about how advanced Hong Kong is, but it is not like that at all,” he said.
He expects the community to remain resilient and will continue to challenge the government in court one right at a time, as they have done in the past.
But there is a caveat. “You’ll only find out (what legal protection) you need when things go wrong,” he said.
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