Government has failed LGBT Hongkongers over same-sex partnership bill

The decision by a majority of legislative councillors to vote down the same-sex partnerships bill has been presented by officials as some kind of triumph for the system of government. In fact, it sets us on the road to a slow-burning loss of credibility about our commitment to the rule of law.

A total of 71 members voted against the bill earlier this month, with just 14 in favour and one abstention. The outcome was widely reported in the overseas media, most directly highlighting that this was a direct rebuttal of a ruling by Hong Kong’s top court.

The narrative since put forward by some officials is that, despite the negative outcome, the process was a success because it showed all three branches of government carried out their duties faithfully according to the law. The judiciary interpreted the relevant law independently, the executive responded appropriately by putting forward legislation to remedy the adjudged illegality and the legislature exercised its free judgment.

This is pure sophistry. A significant minority of Hong Kong citizens have been denied certain rights that our Court of Final Appeal ruled they should have by law. The promise by the government to examine what might be done administratively to minimise the damage to those concerned is welcome but insufficient.

As the administration itself said in the Legislative Council brief introducing the draft legislation, legal recognition means “same-sex partnerships receive formal recognition and protection under the law. Solely relying on administrative measures or authorisation mechanisms is inadequate to establish a legally recognised and binding mechanism”. In other words, by its own admission, the government recognises that failure to enact the bill puts us outside the law.

Now it is worth examining how we reached the present situation, because it was not by accident. Various lawsuits over the years have concerned the right of an individual to apply for a spouse immigration visa for a same-sex partner, whether a same-sex partner has the right to spousal civil service benefits, the right of a transgender person to marry according to their new gender, guardianship and joint custody arrangements for children and so on.

  

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