Deep-rooted fears and a rigid definition of what makes a man a man and a woman a woman are among the reasons Hong Kong lags behind many Asian countries when it comes to recognising transgender marriage, according to a leading academic.
While the city prohibits marriage by someone who has acquired a new gender, the practice is legal on the mainland, across the region and in many other countries.
Dr Sam Winter of the University of Hong Kong, who has studied transgender development for the past 11 years, says the city's position throws up a series of contradictions.
He believes a landmark case brought by transgender woman 'W' against the Registrar for Marriages which begins in the High Court tomorrow could have a lasting effect on Hong Kong's transgender community - the size of which is difficult to measure due to the stigma that is attached to it.
'The first contradiction is that the only legal marriage open to W and other transgender women is marriage to another woman. And of course two men, where a transgender man has married a man. And yet the government says it will not allow or recognise same-sex marriage.
'Number two is that one arm of government, recognising the medical necessity of sex reassignment surgery for transgender people in distress about their anatomies, facilitates medical transition.