Hong Kong rejects bill supporting registration of same-sex partnerships

The Hong Kong Legislative Council voted against a controversial bill on Wednesday that would have allowed some same-sex couples to register their partnership legally. It was opposed by 71 votes to 14, leaving Hong Kong’s local government less than two months to comply with their top court’s ruling. 

The bill follows a 2023 Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (HKCFA) case that challenged a homosexual couple’s right to be recognized as married. The couple had been married in New York since 2013, and had been trying to get recognized since 2018. The HKCFA gave the government a two-year deadline, October 27, 2025, to establish an alternate legal framework recognizing already existing same-sex marriages. 

To fulfill their duty, the government proposed a new registration system in July 2025. The system would allow for couples who were already married overseas to register, but it still does not currently allow Hong Kong same sex couples to get married. The court had confirmed in  Sham Tsz Kit v. Secretary for Justice that “under Hong Kong law, same-sex couples do not have access to the institution of marriage”, but “access to an alternative framework for legal recognition of their relationship has been compellingly advocated”. 

However, roughly 80 percent of legislators rejected this bill, in fear of destabilizing Hong Kong’s traditional family values. Amnesty International criticized the decision, with Nadia Rahman, Policy Advisor on Gender, stating that “lawmakers have shown an alarming disdain for LGBTI rights” by rejecting the bill. Just before the vote, the human rights group, along with over 30 international organizations, had urged the government in a joint letter to guarantee the bill’s legal recognition, stating the current bill already “falls far short of both international human rights standards and the government’s proclaimed commitments in advancing equality, inclusion and respect for diversity”. 

Given that the bill would have granted same-sex couples from abroad the right to only make medical decisions and post-death arrangements; its rejection by legislators stands in contrast to the courts gradually more flexible stance on equal rights and pro-LGBTI social movements. 

The Legislative Council now has 51 days to revise and re-propose a new bill in order to respect the HKCFA’s ruling and comply with what the court has recognized as a “basic social need”. 

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