Hong Kong lawmakers vote down bill recognising same-sex partnerships

Hong Kong’s legislature has voted down a bill that would have recognised same-sex partnerships, despite a landmark court ruling and years of LGBTQ rights activism.

The veto on Wednesday marked the first government bill that failed to get a green light from the Legislative Council after Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral system to only have “patriots administering Hong Kong”.

During the second reading of the bill in Legco, 71 of 86 lawmakers voted against it, resulting in the legislation failing to go to a third and final reading.

They said the bill had not managed to gain social consensus, noting that more than 8,000 out of the 10,000 submissions received by Legco had expressed disapproval of the legislation.

Peter Siu Ka-fai of the Liberal Party said voting down the bill would not cause a constitutional crisis.

“We are not rubber stamps. If we must follow whatever the Court of Final Appeal rules, then all Legislative Council members wouldn’t need to engage in any discussion,” he said.