Hong Kong judges raise doubts over housing body’s stance curtailing LGBTQ couples’ rights

Housing Authority counsel argues Basic Law designed to grant social welfare benefits to heterosexual partners

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The Court of Final Appeal on Friday heard arguments from the Housing Authority’s counsel seeking to preserve the discriminatory policies in relation to public rental and subsidised flats. Photo: Jelly Tse

Published: 9:43pm, 4 Oct 2024Updated: 10:17am, 5 Oct 2024

Hong Kong’s top judges have expressed doubts about a government body’s stance that unequal treatment based on one’s sexual orientation is “entrenched” in the city’s mini-constitution, as they hear a final appeal against the granting of housing rights to same-sex couples.

The Court of Final Appeal on Friday heard arguments from the Housing Authority’s counsel seeking to preserve the discriminatory policies in relation to public rental and subsidised flats, despite being deemed unconstitutional in two separate judicial challenges.

The authority currently offers public rental housing only to traditional families and bars gay couples from living together in subsidised flats under the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS).

Permanent resident Nick Infinger won a judicial review in 2020 against the authority’s refusal to let him and his same-sex spouse apply for a public rental flat as a family.

A year later, married couple Henry Li Yik-ho and Edgar Ng Hon-lam, who has since died, clinched a victory in another challenge over the HOS policy.

Both rulings were upheld after an unsuccessful appeal by the authority.