The court deemed the housing authority’s refusal to accommodate same-sex couples, who got married overseas, as discriminatory.
The case involved two instances where same-sex couples were denied housing rights due to Hong Kong’s nonrecognition of their marriages, which took place in Canada and Britain, respectively. The court ruled this as a severe form of indirect discrimination and stated that same-sex couples should receive equal treatment. This decision follows another recent ruling acknowledging the need for a legal framework supporting the rights of same-sex couples, giving the government a two-year deadline to create such a system.
