Editorial | Resistance to gay rights hurts Hong Kong
- It is not up to the courts to make social policy, and the government needs to amend laws to ensure the city does not lose valuable talent merely on the grounds of sexual orientation
In uncertain times fraught with a pandemic and recent local civil unrest, the last thing an international city needs is publicity that negatively affects its social image, especially on the issue of equal opportunity. But it keeps arising over the rights of sexual minorities.
The latest example involved a win and a loss in cases taken to the High Court, which ruled in favour of a gay homeowner seeking equal inheritance rights for his partner, but rejected a bid to recognise foreign same-sex marriages, because it was a question that could not be decided in a vacuum isolating it from related issues.
Earlier this year, the court found it unlawful for legally married same-sex couples to be denied the right to apply for public housing. This followed two landmark cases in which the top court upheld a gay civil servant’s right to claim spousal benefits and ruled immigration authorities must grant a lesbian expatriate a same-sex spousal visa. In the latest case, Edgar Ng Hon-lam won his challenge targeting the marriage provisions in ordinances on intestacy and financial provision for dependants.
As the government fights one court case after another over practices seen to be discriminatory, there is now a pattern of activists and concern groups chipping away at these laws. People who mount such challenges take on a financial and often emotional burden. At the same time, opinion polling suggests the public is becoming more accepting of LGBT rights. If the government continues to sit back and do nothing to give them more recognition, it is effectively leaving it to the courts to make social policy.
Since the courts have repeatedly ruled against some current laws and practices, the government should seriously consider shouldering the responsibility of addressing the rights of the LGBT community by amending laws. The fallback position of socially conservative opponents of gay rights – that they still reflect conservative mainstream opinion – is becoming increasingly debatable.