Opinion/ Letters

Hong Kong does not ‘discriminate’ against the gay community, just sees them as ‘different’

Letters

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Published: 8:00pm, 14 Jun, 2018

Updated: 12:31pm, 15 Oct, 2020

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Senior immigration officer Angus Leung initiated a judicial review against the Civil Service Bureau in late 2015 when it refused to pay benefits to his same-sex partner. He won his case against the government in the High Court last April, but the Court of Appeal overturned the decision on June 1. Photo: Edward Wong

Richard Macnamara's objections to the Court of Appeal's decision regarding the rights of legally married same-sex couples (“On gay marriage, moral judgment should have no place in Hong Kong courts”, June 7) is premised on his perceived “discrimination” by Hong Kong against same-sex couples.

We merely recognise that the LGBT minority is different and therefore should not be treated the same as the heterosexual majority around whom the law has been written. We don't discriminate against them. We recognise that they are different. It may be that separate laws should be enacted for the minority but this must not be pre-empted by a fait accompli.

How can Mr Macnamara talk about “no standing” for sharia law nor “other moral codes” on the one hand, but a “non-discriminatory approach” on the other?

Meanwhile, I wish to point out that senior immigration officer Angus Leung Chun-kwong and his same-sex partner are not considered legally married here in Hong Kong.

Peter Lok, Heng Fa Chuen