In major ruling, Hong Kong court backs housing, inheritance benefits for same-sex couples

This ruling concludes years of legal battles over policies that excluded same-sex married couples from receiving subsidised housing and inheritance protections.

In a landmark decision, Hong Kong’s top court on Tuesday ruled in favour of granting equal inheritance and housing benefits to same-sex couples. Hong Kong in September this year granted a partial victory to LGBTI activist Jimmy Sham, who had been seeking recognition of his overseas same-sex marriage recognised since 2018.

Nick Infinger, who won a years-long legal battle over the differential treatment facing same-sex couples, holds up a rainbow banner after speaking to media members outside Hong Kong’s top court on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)

The ruling is a major win for the city's LGBTQ community, as it marks a significant step towards equal treatment in a city where same-sex couples have long faced legal challenges. While Hong Kong's top court had refused to recognise same-sex marriages in September, it had ordered the city to formulate an alternative framework within two years.

The Court of Final Appeal's unanimous decision dismissed appeals from the Hong Kong government, which had argued that same-sex couples married overseas should not be entitled to the same housing benefits and inheritance rights as heterosexual couples, according to a report by The Associated Press.

This ruling concludes years of legal battles over policies that excluded same-sex married couples from receiving subsidised housing and inheritance protections.

Court slams govt's housing policies

Chief Justice Andrew Cheung, in his judgment, criticised the government's housing policies, which had argued that benefits for opposite-sex married couples would increase the supply of subsidised housing for them. However, the court found no evidence to support the claim that allowing same-sex couples to access these benefits would harm heterosexual couples.

"The challenged policies cannot be justified," Chief Justice Cheung wrote.

The court also ruled that certain provisions of inheritance law that excluded same-sex spouses were discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The legal victories are the result of years of litigation, including challenges to housing and inheritance laws by same-sex couples, with one of the most notable cases being the one brought by Nick Infinger, who filed a judicial review in 2018 against the Housing Authority.

“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 outside the court building," AP quoted Infinger as saying.

However, Infinger also expressed caution about the possibility of Hong Kong legalizing same-sex marriage, pointing to the more progressive stance taken by other countries like Taiwan and Thailand.

The rulings also brought closure to the case of Henry Li, whose late partner, Edgar Ng, died in 2020. Li, who had married Ng in the UK and bought a subsidized flat together, was not recognised as a family member for housing benefits by the Housing Authority. Following the court’s ruling, Li shared a heartfelt message on social media, saying that although he had lived in pain after Ng’s death, the decision helped honor his late partner’s dream of equality.

LGBTQ groups in Hong Kong, such as NGO Hong Kong Marriage Equality, hailed the decision as a victory for human dignity and equality, urging the government to go further and legalize same-sex marriage in the city.