In 2019, Wu began legal action to demand equal treatment for same-sex couples in public housing and inheritance. A year after her suicide, her widower continues to fight.
Over the past 20 years, LGBT+ community He has achieved victory after victory in Hong Kong courts in areas ranging from visas to taxation.
But same-sex marriage remains banned in the international financial hub. The reality Lee faced when he was prevented from identifying Wu’s body at the Hong Kong morgue.
“They told me that my husband was not my husband and that I was nothing,” Li, 37, told AFP. “I was motionless,” he added.
in September, Hong Kong’s top court ordered authorities to establish an “alternative framework” within two years that recognizes the rights of same-sex couples.
But the Court of Final Appeal judges also ruled that marriage “is restricted to opposite-sex couples”.
Among the LGBT+ community, reactions ranged from cautious optimism to sadness. Lee said he was “a little disappointed” with the court’s ruling. But he hopes that Hong Kong can provide LGBT+ people with a framework covering “birth, old age, illness and death”.
After getting married civilly in London in 2017, Henry Lee and Edgar Ng held their ceremony in Hong Kong. Wu even convinced a church to let them walk down the aisle.
“He was a brave man. He was right, our Marriage is open and transparent“Details Lee.
In Hong Kong, public opinion is increasingly favorable to same-sex marriage. The former British colony differs from mainland China and its repression of LGBT+ people.
– disappointment-
The court ruled in September that the trial was brought by activist Jimmy Sham, who argued the marriage ban violated his right to equality.
“Many people, including Sham, are advancing the rights of LGBT+ people,” stresses Annie Chau, co-founder of the social network Butterfly. lesbians From Hong Kong.
Hong Kong people are increasingly reluctant to display their sexual orientation “in the workplace and at home,” she said.
While in the past most topics on Butterfly Forum were about unpleasant experiences, more recently users have been talking about marriage, family and retirement.
this Court ruling ‘a big step forward’ Zhou told AFP.
But Hong Kong society is not immune to the atmosphere of political repression that developed after large-scale pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019.
“It is increasingly difficult for the public to see the needs of minority groups,” Zhou noted, noting that the court’s decision received relatively little local media coverage.
Pro-democracy activist Harry Shum has been imprisoned since 2021 awaiting trial, accused of endangering national security.
For Angus Leung, who in 2015 challenged Hong Kong’s restrictive policies on health care and tax benefits for spouses, Mr Sum’s legal action “started too early”.
“When he presented his case, we expected him to win. But same-sex marriage was rejected,” he lamented.
However, in 2019, the court ruled that denying benefits to same-sex couples violated Hong Kong law. The trial has been difficult for the couple, who now live abroad.
For now, authorities have not disclosed the steps they plan to take to implement the September ruling.
Ben (pseudonym), 53, who has lived with his partner since the 1990s, doubts Hong Kong authorities, secured by Beijing, will be eager to establish an “alternative framework” in line with the court order.
“Hong Kong still has a long way to go”,mint.