From Eliminating Discrimination on the Ground of Sexual Orientation to Same-Sex Marriage: The Hong Kong Experience

In recognition of Professor Andrew Byrnes’ contribution to promoting gender equality in Hong Kong, this article traced the development of equal treatment of LGBT in Hong Kong. This development is entirely court-led, and the LGBT community has been highly strategic in launching legal attacks. This approach has successfully extended the protection of LGBT’s rights in the last two decades. The highest court in Hong Kong will soon have to confront the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. In MK v Government of the HKSAR, the Court of First Instance held against the recognition of same-sex marriage or an alternative form of civil partnership. In reviewing this important decision, this article argues that while there are powerful arguments in favour of recognizing same-sex marriage, the issue is ultimately one of separation of powers. Given that marriage is deeply rooted in the community’s social and cultural values, this article considers that there is little prospect of successfully arguing for same-sex marriage in Hong Kong in the absence of sufficient social consensus, and that the best bet for Hong Kong is to argue for the recognition of an alternative form of civil partnership. Social consensus should carry less weight in this regard, as civil partnership is to exist alongside and not to replace traditional marriage. There is no evidence that civil partnership will threaten traditional marriage, as Hong Kong used to recognize the coexistence of different forms of marriage for a long time.

本研究主要探讨香港LGBT平等权利的发展，尤其是同性婚姻的合法化问题。文章分析了香港LGBT社区如何通过战略性的法律诉讼推动平等权利的扩展。特别是在同性婚姻问题上，法院的判决将决定是否承认同性婚姻或其他形式的民事伴侣关系。研究认为，尽管存在强有力的支持同性婚姻的论点，但同性婚姻的合法化问题本质上涉及权力分立。婚姻是根植于社区社会文化价值中的问题，缺乏足够的社会共识使得香港在目前情况下难以争取同性婚姻的合法化。

本研究主要采用了法律分析的方法，聚焦于香港法院在LGBT平等权利和同性婚姻问题上的判决和发展。文章详细回顾了香港法院在MK诉香港特别行政区政府案中的判决，并分析了支持和反对同性婚姻合法化的法律论点。此外，文章探讨了社会共识对同性婚姻合法化的影响，提出应在缺乏广泛社会共识的情况下，推动承认民事伴侣关系作为同性婚姻的替代形式。这种方法结合了司法案例分析和社会文化背景的评估。

本研究表明，香港的LGBT社区通过法律诉讼争取平等待遇和法律认可，取得了一定进展。与大多数地区通过立法实现法律承认不同，香港的进展完全依赖于法院的判决，立法机关没有发挥重要作用。这种情况部分源于香港司法独立和立法机关的分裂以及非民主特征。LGBT社区通过精心策划的法律挑战逐步推进，包括挑战刑事制裁、性别认定、以及逐步推动同性婚姻或民事伴侣的法律认可。尽管这种策略有效，但也面临一些局限性，如诉讼费用高昂，且结果往往是渐进性的变化。最终，同性婚姻的司法认可必须基于足够的社会共识，法院的角色和合法性有限。因此，尽管香港法院在过去二十年内表现出进步，但要在当前阶段成功争取同性婚姻的认可仍然困难。最佳方案是争取承认与异性婚姻具有同等权利的民事伴侣关系，而不是取代传统婚姻。