Hong Kong Just Mandated Spousal Employment Benefits for Same-Sex Couples

After the wholesome success of Taiwan legalising same-sex marriage, Hong Kong is taking strides to fight for LGBTQAI+ rights, and we’re loving it. In a landmark judgment passed on Thursday, June 6, Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal ruled that same-sex couples can’t be denied spousal employment benefits by the government.

Hong Kong's top court ruled in favour of gay civil servant Angus Leung , a local immigration officer, who in 2014 legally married his husband Scott Adams in New Zealand. He had applied for spousal and tax benefits for his husband, but was denied the same so he decided to sue the government. This ruling, thus, unanimously overturns an earlier judgment that said such a practice was unlawful, making it a major score for the LGBTQ community in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Outlined in a 32-page judgment, the judges spoke about the importance of protecting heterosexual marriage, but also pointed out that there was no connection between that and the policies of Hong Kong’s civil service and taxation authority.

“How is it said that allowing Mr Adams medical and dental benefits weakens the institution of marriage in Hong Kong? Similarly, how does permitting the appellant to elect for joint assessment of his income tax liability under [tax law] impinge on the institution of marriage in Hong Kong?” the judges wrote.

“It cannot logically be argued that any person is encouraged to enter into an opposite-sex marriage in Hong Kong because a same-sex spouse is denied those benefits or to joint assessment to taxation.”

While Hong Kong does not legally recognise same-sex marriage yet, its court ruled last year that the same-sex partner of a British expatriate married abroad was to be given equal visa treatment under immigration law.

This coming from a country that had earlier denied three transgender men to be formally recognised as males because they hadn’t fully undergone a sex-change operation, is a major step forward on the spectrum scale. And everyone’s acknowledging it.

Man-kei Tam, Director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, welcomed the judgment as a “huge step forward for equality”, one that brings Hong Kong “more in line with its international obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of people with different sexual orientations.”

Tam has also asked the government to review its laws, policies and practices and work towards ending all kinds of discrimination against one’s sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status. “No one should experience discrimination because of who they are or who they love,” she said.

However, even with this judgment, many are questioning whether it will work in its implementation. Would gay civil servants wanting to avail of these benefits be okay with “outing” themselves in the workplace? Many have also pointed out how the ruling does not cover gay employees in the private sector.

“Will the government voluntarily say ‘OK, we will also extend it to other tax benefits?’ It is not clear,” an anonymous gay lawyer told South China Morning Post.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party-ruled government in China says that it still won’t allow same-sex marriage, despite having never accepted a single legal argument on the matter. China’s attitude towards gay rights organiations is known to be restrictive and repressive. However, despite this, Hong Kong—a former British colony—stands out with its own Western-style legal policies and remains separate from China’s questionable courts. Even its population, which includes a lot of people from abroad, is more socially liberal than the mainland. However, students who identify as queer have also spoken up about the discrimination they face and how suffocating it can get. This victory, though, will hopefully move the territory as also the continent towards more equal rights laws.

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