Five months after Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, a Hong Kong court ruled against allowing such unions in the city. The setback is discouraging to the hopes of those who hoped for faster progress on LGBT+ equality in Asia.
Judge Anderson Chow wrote that “updating” the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples would lead to “far-reaching consequences” that the court was not prepared to accept.
In his decision, he also wrote that it was “beyond the proper scope of the functions or powers of the court, in the name of interpretation, to seek to effect a change of social policy on such a fundamental issue.
“Sadly the discriminatory treatment of same-sex couples will continue for the time being,” said Man-kei Tam, the director of Amnesty International Hong Kong.
Read more from The New York Times.