Hong Kong overrules legal bid to recognize overseas same sex marriages
Jimmy Sham recently petitioned the court in Hong Kong to legally recognize same sex marriages carried out overseas. On Wednesday, August 24, 2022, the Court of Appeals in Hong Kong overruled the petition stating that Hong Kong will continue to only acknowledge marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Like most other places that define marriage by heterosexual confines, the court defined marriage “as a voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.”
The petitioner, Jimmy Sham, married his spouse in New York in 2013 and first filed a petition to have his marriage acknowledged back in 2018. The judge ruled that the decision in the 2018 case was correct and would be upheld. He also demanded that Sham pay all legal costs associated with the venture.
During the verdict it was noted by the court that other folks in same sex marriages that had taken place overseas had also tried to petition for the same legal recognition and benefits that is provided to those in heterosexual unions in Hong Kong. The court commented that these people had also failed and could continue to face an “insurmountable hurdle.”
The court said that it would be unfair to all involved to acknowledge foreign same sex marriages, while continuing to block same sex unions for their domestic citizens. The court clearly stated the likelihood of that changing any time soon, is unlikely.
“Whatever the position might be under the foreign law on marriage, it does not detract from the application of [Article 37 of the Basic Law] in Hong Kong,”
“The right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and to found a family shall be recognised. It strongly suggests that the freedom to marriage thereunder is granted to heterosexual couples only.”
However, this does not mean the end of the line for Jimmy Sham and his fight for LGBTQ rights. He could file an appeal with the Court of Final Appeal to have it heard in front of a judge one final time.
It is unclear yet as to whether Sham will take this route or not.
Watch this space as the situation in Hong Kong unfolds.
