Legislative Councillor聽Raymond Chan Chi-chuen has planned a motion of debate next month to study policies that would allow聽same-sex unions.
The motion debate, , will take place on July 4, a little over a month after聽Hong Kong’s appeal court that granted same-sex couples the same spousal benefits as heterosexual couples.
“Hong Kong鈥檚 LGBT community is tired of being second class citizens, but our push for equality fell on deaf ears,” Chan told 黑料社 HK in an email.
“Whatever the outcome of this motion debate, Hong Kong will have to deal with non-traditional families and their welfare.”
He added that聽he聽hopes the debate will see a single government policy bureau claim responsibility for non-traditional family matters, pointing out that the Security Secretary handled questions in the past because they usually involved immigration and law enforcement.
The聽fight for聽an amendment on gay marriage has been a cornerstone of Chan’s tenure since he in 2012, shortly after winning his seat.
The debate over same-sex unions has been going on for years, with allies and members of the LGBT community pointing out that on gay rights.
It took on new prominence in 2015, when civil servant聽Angus Leung Chun-kwong challenged聽his employer’s聽refusal to grant his husband spousal benefits after they married in New Zealand. Though the聽High Court in 2017, judges later cited Hong Kong’s Basic Law 鈥 which states “the freedom of marriage of Hong Kong residents and their right to raise a family freely shall be protected by law” 鈥 to overturn the decision.
