In a significant victory for the LGBTQ community, a Hong Kong court has rejected two appeals by the Housing Authority concerning the housing rights of same-sex couples. The Court of Appeal upheld lower court decisions, deeming the spousal policies of the city’s Public Rental Housing scheme and Home Ownership Scheme as unlawful and unconstitutional.
These policies were found to violate the Basic Law’s provision for equal treatment of all Hong Kong residents under the law. The appeals were a result of separate judicial reviews filed in 2018 and 2019. One was initiated by Nick Infinger, who challenged the denial of his public rental housing application based on the Housing Authority’s narrow interpretation of ‘husband’ and ‘wife.’
He argued that this policy constituted unjustified discrimination based on sexual orientation. The second review, lodged by Edgar Ng in 2019, contested the Housing Authority’s refusal to recognize same-sex spouses as ‘spouses’ or ‘family members’ of subsidized flat owners who had married overseas.
Tragically, Ng took his own life in 2020. The court’s decision marks a significant step toward equal housing rights for same-sex couples in Hong Kong.
The appeal panel’s argument emphasized that the Housing Authority effectively admitted to targeting same-sex couples for deterrence in their policy. This supported Judge Chow’s decision to apply a higher standard in reviewing the two judicial reviews. Ultimately, the appeal judges rejected all the grounds of appeal, indicating a significant legal victory.
In response to the judgment, Li expressed gratitude but also sorrow that his husband, the original applicant in the judicial review, did not live to witness the victory. The couple’s simple wish was to live together in their own home lawfully, a desire shared by many couples in the city. The Housing Authority had cruelly denied this due to their sexual orientation. Li hoped that the Housing Authority would not appeal the decision, allowing his late husband, Edgar, to rest in peace. This judgment reaffirmed the importance of public policies protecting individuals from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Advocacy group HK Marriage Equality called on the government to collaborate with stakeholders to create a comprehensive framework for recognizing same-sex relationships, emphasizing the need to avoid fragmented approaches. In a related development, the city’s top court ruled in September that the government had not fulfilled its constitutional duty to provide legal recognition for same-sex relationships. The government was given a two-year window to develop a mechanism for recognizing such relationships before potentially being deemed in breach of the law.
(Source: Jessie Pang | Reuters | Kelly Ho | Hong Kong Free Press)
