As the Legislative Council prepares to resume the second reading of the Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill, Amnesty Hong Kong Overseas and 30 LGBTI rights groups from across Asia have issued a joint letter to Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, urging the Hong Kong government to establish a legal framework that fully recognizes and protects same-sex partnerships. Please refer to the attached joint letter for the full text.
The co-signing organizations include regional network ILGA Asia, which represents over 200 member groups; the Asia Feminist LBQ Network, which focuses on South-East Asia region; and other LGBTI rights organizations from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
“This joint letter, issued by Amnesty Hong Kong Overseas and 30 LGBTI organizations from across Asia, showcases the shared concerns and solidarity of LGBTI communities in the region in the fight for equal rights for same-sex couples in Hong Kong.”
“The co-signing organizations hope this letter urges the Hong Kong Government to recognize that an increasing number of governments are progressively moving to recognize and protect same-sex partnership rights. Hong Kong’s current Bill lags far behind the frameworks adopted in Nepal, Taiwan and Thailand in recent years. These examples demonstrates that there is no contradiction between recognizing same-sex partnerships and upholding Asia or ‘traditional’ values.”
“While branding itself as a free, open, and Asia’s world city that attracts global talent, the Hong Kong government has not only failed to keep pace with the regional trend toward equality and improve its related laws and policies to build a more inclusive and equal society — it has also proposed a Bill that falls significantly short of international human rights standards.”
“We urge the Hong Kong government to fulfill its obligations under appliable international human rights treaties, as well as the guarantees enshrined in the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Bills of Rights Ordinance, and confirmed by the Court of Final Appeal. The government should also publicly disclose a contingency plan should the Bill fail to pass before the deadline set by the Court and immediately introduce a revised legislative proposal that fully complies with both the Court’s ruling and international human rights standards.”
Background
On 5 September 2023, the Court of Final Appeal delivered a partial victory for LGBTI rights advocate Jimmy Sham, ruling that the Hong Kong government must establish a legal framework to recognize same-sex relationships. The Court gave the government a deadline of 27 October 2025 to comply.
Although Hong Kong courts have in recent years recognized that the denial of rights to same-sex couples is discriminatory, progress has been slow. Rulings have extended limited rights to same-sex couples—such as access to dependent visas, employment benefits, joint tax assessments, and public housing—but a comprehensive framework remains absent.
On 11 July 2025, the Hong Kong government published the proposed Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill in the Gazette. The bill allows only individuals with a valid same-sex partnership registered outside Hong Kong to register, effectively denying same-sex couples the right to legally enter into a civil partnership locally. It also offers extremely limited rights—restricted solely to medical decision-making and post-death arrangements. The Bill had its first reading on 16 July and is scheduled to resume its second reading on 10 September.