Hong Kong moving slowly down the path to equality regarding recognising same-sex relationships

City has been a slow adopter of laws protecting sexual orientation, but will inevitably catch up

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Thousands march at the annual Gay Pride parade in San Francisco two days after the US Supreme Court's landmark ruling on June 28 this year legalising same-sex marriage nationwide. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Published: 12:01am, 25 Aug 2015Updated: 3:28pm, 21 Jun 2018

In June, the United States Supreme Court determined that the right to marry was a fundamental right protected by the US Constitution. The decision once again threw a spotlight on the question of when Hong Kong would join the growing number of jurisdictions granting same-sex relationships equivalent legal status to more conventional relationships.

Hong Kong has been a late developer in this area. It was only in 1991 that homosexual acts were decriminalised, and it was not until 2005 that the ages of consent for heterosexual and homosexual relationships were equalised at 16.

There is no legislation making it unlawful to treat an individual less favourably due to his or her sexual orientation. But this issue is now the subject of a review by the Equal Opportunities Commission, which is expected to issue its findings towards the end of the year. Should the review indicate legislation should be enacted to outlaw such discrimination, it would take several years to become law.

So what is the chance of same-sex marriage being recognised in Hong Kong?

Currently, the Marriage Ordinance defines a marriage as a "voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others". This definition excludes any same-sex union.

The courts have recently agreed that a transgender individual can marry by reference to his or her reassigned gender. Therefore, a person born as a man who transitions to a woman can legally marry another man.