Hong Kong’s top court yesterday upheld three earlier rulings that favored granting public housing and inheritance rights to married same-sex couples, citing equality provisions in the territory’s mini-constitution.
The unanimous ruling by the Court of Final Appeal is the latest legal victory for Hong Kong’s LGBTQ+ community since last year.
Judges Andrew Cheung (張舉能), Robert Ribeiro, Joseph Fok (霍兆剛), Johnson Lam (林文瀚) and Frank Stock said in a written ruling they rejected the government’s arguments that same-sex and opposite sex couples were not comparable in terms of their rights to public housing.
Photo: AP
Cheung acknowledged the limited resources officials work with, but said this “in no way lessens the necessity of allocating social welfare benefits on a rational and justifiable basis, free from discrimination.”
Fok and Ribeiro wrote in another written ruling that existing inheritance rules were “discriminatory and unconstitutional.”
The government’s challenge to the top court came after the lower Court of Appeal earlier upheld rulings granting same-sex couples who married overseas subsidized housing rights and inheritance rights in three cases.
One involved the Housing Authority declining to consider an application by permanent resident Nick Infinger to rent a public apartment with his husband, because their marriage in Canada was not recognized in Hong Kong.
In the other, same-sex couple Edgar Ng (吳翰林) and his husband, Henry Li (李奕豪), were denied joint-ownership of a government-subsidised apartment, because their marriage in Britain was not recognized in Hong Kong.
Ng also launched the third case, expressing fears that if he died without leaving a will, he would not be able to pass his property to his husband under Hong Kong’s inheritance laws.
Li took over the two cases after Ng took his own life in 2020 after years of depression.
Speaking outside the court after the ruling, Infinger said he knew of other couples who wanted to create a home, but did not have the means to stage a legal battle.
“Today’s court rulings recognized that same-sex couples can love each other and deserve to live together,” Infinger said, waving an LGBTQ+ rainbow towel.
“This is not only fighting for me and for my partner, but this is fighting for all the same-sex couples in Hong Kong,” he said.
Li honored his late partner in a Facebook post.
“Today, November 26, 2024, our case has finally come to an end. I am grateful to the court for affirming your suffering and for your dedication to the equal rights for LGBTQ,” Li wrote.
Hong Kong’s top court in September ruled against same-sex marriage, but acknowledged the need for same-sex couples to access alternative legal frameworks to meet “basic social requirements,”
The government was given two years to produce the framework. Officials have yet to comment on yesterday’s ruling.
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS