AP
An activist detained in Hong Kong began his final appeal Wednesday seeking recognition for his same-sex marriage registered overseas, in a landmark case for the city’s LGBTQ+ community.
Jimmy Sham, a prominent pro-democracy activist during the 2019 protests that roiled Hong Kong, first asked for a judicial review five years ago seeking a declaration that the city’s laws, which don’t recognize foreign same-sex marriages, violate his constitutional right to equality. But the lower courts dismissed his legal challenge and a subsequent appeal over the case.
Sham is now in custody after being charged with subversion over an unofficial primary election under a tough national security law enacted following the protests. Many other leading Hong Kong activists were also arrested or silenced by the law imposed by Beijing on the former U.K. colony.
The upcoming judgment by the city’s top court in his marriage case will have strong implications for the lives of the LGBTQ+ community and the financial hub’s reputation as an inclusive place to live and work.
Currently, the city only recognizes same-sex marriages for certain purposes such as taxation, civil service benefits and dependent visas. Many of the government’s concessions were won through legal challenges over the last few years.
The court will have to address whether the exclusion of same-sex couples from the institution of marriage and a failure to provide alternative means of legal recognition for same-sex partnerships violate the right to equality. The judges will also have to decide if the city’s laws violate that right enshrined in Hong Kong’s constitution, as they don’t recognize foreign same-sex marriages.
On Wednesday, Sham appeared spirited inside the courtroom. His supporters wished him a happy birthday as he was turning 36 years old this week.
His lawyer, Karon Monaghan, argued that the absence of same-sex marriages in Hong Kong sent a message that it is less worthy of recognition than heterosexual marriages.
But Stewart Wong, a lawyer who represents the…
