A year after lawmakers veto equality bill, LGBTQ Hongkongers still hope for change

When Hong Kong’s Legislative Council vetoed a government bill that would have granted limited recognition to the city’s same-sex couples, 51-year-old Isaac Yick said he was “disappointed but not surprised”.

Yick was born and raised in Hong Kong before moving to Canada, where he eventually met and married his husband. They returned to the city together in 2013.

He said there was initially a sense that things were changing for the LGBTQ community in the city, citing victories in court that conferred some rights for same-sex couples, including one landmark case from 2019 involving spousal benefits.

“It would still have to go through all the courts, which was unnecessary, but once the decision was handed down, we saw the change,” he said.

So when the Court of Final Appeal ruled in 2023 that the government had a positive obligation to recognise same-sex partnerships in the city, there was reason for optimism.

But by the time the government’s bill made its way to Legco two years later, Yick had the feeling legal recognition was not going to happen. In the year since the bill was rejected, the pace of change had slowed considerably, he said.