Two lawsuits challenging Hong Kong's
ban on same-sex marriage have been filed in the Chinese region.
According to the
Thomson Reuters Foundation, plaintiffs in the cases are two men,
an activist and a student, who argue that the ban violates the city's
Basic Law, its regional constitution.
After a preliminary hearing held on
Thursday, the Hong Kong High Court agreed to allow the cases to
proceed.
“It is regrettable that further
judicial cases need to be brought to force the government to end the
discrimination same-sex couples face in all walks of life,” Amnesty
International's Doriane Lau told Reuters.
Lau said that gay and lesbian couples
are not eligible for public housing or to receive their partner's
pension benefits.
Hong Kong, a former British colony,
decriminalized gay sex in 1991. The region returned to Chinese
control in 1997.
A 2017 University of Hong Kong survey
found that a majority (50.4%) of respondents support same-sex
marriage.