Cen Zijie partially wins same-sex marriage rights case
[ThisarticleisreproducedwiththeauthorizationofGPointTVLink to original text】
Written by: G-point TV editorial department
The Court of Final Appeal this afternoon (editor’s note: September 5) ruled that Cen Zijie partially won the same-sex marriage rights case! This five-year-old case, which has far-reaching significance for same-sex couples in Hong Kong to fight for marriage equality, has experienced two high-court trial defeats, and finally ushered in a reversal in the Final Court. The recent failure to provide same-sex couples with legal recognition other than marriage is discriminatory and unconstitutional, and demonstrates that the Hong Kong government must fulfill its positive obligation to create an alternative legal framework for same-sex partnerships, including recognizing and defining the “core rights” required for same-sex partnerships “, while giving the government two years after the final court order to improve the system to comply with the ruling.
Point G would like to take this opportunity to thank Cen Zijie and his team of lawyers who are still in prison and still insist on appealing. If it weren’t for their persistence over the past few years, it has been difficult to achieve breakthroughs in the local recognition of same-sex marriage at the legislative level, and it would not be possible to use judicial equal rights to welcome the issue. Come a ray of light! Although this time the case was not completely won, it is believed that the court’s ruling can still prompt the government to improve the current system, and inspire and help more similar judicial review cases in the future.
Point G also specially interviewed two couples of the same sex, sharing why they think it is very important for same-sex marriage to be recognized by law, and what they think about the results of some successful cases today.
For Anne and Kristie, lesbians who are married overseas, legal recognition can bring them a sense of security, and they can talk about their relationship as a matter of course: “Not just friends, lovers, but the other half recognized by the other party. She is my partner. Wife”, especially Kristie recently had a minor operation, which made her hope that her wife can legitimately participate in major medical decisions in the future, and even deal with the aftermath.
They are not unimpressed by today’s partial victory, but they also understand that it is the “beginning of a long journey” (beginning of a long journey). Although this case did not bring legal recognition to overseas marriages, the Court of Finals has affirmed the rights of same-sex couples The attitude is clear, so they still encourage same-sex couples to marry overseas, because a marriage certificate will have more meanings for same-sex couples living in Hong Kong.
As for Dino and Geoffrey, they are also happy to see that the Court of Finals ruling pointed out a clear direction for improvement in the legal recognition of same-sex couples in Hong Kong. Seeing that many gay friends around them choose to leave Hong Kong because they cannot obtain legal protection, they think that if the government recognizes Same-sex marriage overseas can at least be the first step in retaining local and international talent. However, they also understand that equal rights for gays and lesbians has never depended only on the court front. They believe that people in Hong Kong still have a lot of work to do, including promoting diverse equal rights from the bottom up and making intensive efforts.
Kristie and Anne, a lesbian couple registered overseas, and Geoffrey and Dino, a gay couple, expressed their feelings about the partial success of the case.
Case background and development:
Cen Zijie is an activist who has been active in the gender/gender minority movement for many years. He married his boyfriend in the United States in 2013, but the Hong Kong government does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions registered overseas. Same-sex marriage rights, failure to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples outside of marriage, and non-recognition of same-sex marriage overseas are unconstitutional.
The Court of Final Appeal issued judgment today, overturning a lower court’s adverse decision on one of Cen’s complaints (the government’s failure to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples other than marriage), with three of the five judges holding that same-sex couples need to be recognized by an alternative legal framework to meet basic social needs and to obtain a legitimate identity, so as not to make them feel inferior or that their marriage relationship is not worthy of recognition; the three judges also agreed that the right to private life in the Bill of Rights applies to this case, which is due to The private life and dignity of same-sex couples were interfered and violated, and finally Cen won the case by a large percentage. As for the other two complaints, namely, the government’s exclusion of same-sex marriage from Hong Kong’s marriage system and its refusal to recognize same-sex marriages registered overseas, the court ruled that the government was not unconstitutional, and ruled that Shum lost both appeals.
Looking back on the past history of this case, the Court of First Instance of the High Court ruled against Cen in September 2020 on the grounds that his request was “too aggressive”. Same-sex marriage is not allowed, and the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights do not guarantee same-sex marriage. Cen should conduct a judicial review of individual discrimination policies.
Cen Zijie refused to accept the appeal, and the Court of Appeal of the High Court issued a ruling in August 2022, pointing out that both the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Human Rights Law indicate that at the constitutional level, freedom of marriage only includes heterosexual couples. Drafted in the 1990s, the marriage referred to is “a heterosexual partnership between a man and a woman”. Other interpretations are obviously not in line with the facts. Therefore, the Hong Kong government has no responsibility to ensure that same-sex couples enjoy the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples; if the Hong Kong government only Recognizing same-sex marriages registered overseas but not allowing local same-sex couples to register for marriage will also cause injustice and Cen will lose the case.
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2023-09-06 01:45:08
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