The legislators of Hong Kong rejected a bill on Wednesday which would have granted limited recognition to same -sex partnerships in the city, disappointing in the LGBTQ +community.
The opposition was faithful: legislators present, 71 voted against the measure, 14 supported it and one abstained.
The legislation, unveiled by the government in July, would have created a registration system which would allow same -sex couples with unions which are legal in the courts abroad to rights such as hospital visits. The measure followed a decision in 2023 before the Hong Kong Court according to which the city must provide a framework to recognize homosexual relations. The court gave the city leaders a two -year deadline.
The legislator Holden Chow, vice-president of the pro-Beijing democratic alliance for the improvement and progress of Hong Kong, said that the adoption of the bill would mean opening “a box of a Pandora” and “subverting the Hong Kong marriage system between a man and a woman”.
LGBTQ + rights activists criticized the bill to make too little progress towards complete recognition for same -sex weddings.
Jimmy Shan, whose judicial case led to the 2023 decision, said on Wednesday that he hoped that the recognition of homosexual marriage would finally come to Hong Kong.
“I hope that today marks a start in which we have not yet entered, rather than an end,” he said.
Includes the reports of the Associated Press and Reuters.