Hong Kong's top court on Tuesday (November 26) upheld three earlier rulings that favored granting public housing and inheritance rights to married same-sex couples, citing equality provisions in the city's mini-constitution. - REUTERS
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00:00A landmark ruling made by Hong Kong's top court symbolized a victory for Nick Infinger
00:06and many others in the city's LGBTQ plus community.
00:11In a unanimous decision, judges ruled in favor of granting public housing and inheritance
00:16rights to married same-sex couples.
00:19Today's court ruling could be said to recognize that even same-sex couples can fall in love
00:25and deserve to live together.
00:28The Court of Final Appeal on Tuesday upheld three earlier rulings that were appealed
00:33by the Hong Kong government.
00:36The government said that same-sex and opposite-sex couples were not comparable in terms of their
00:41rights to public housing, but the court rejected this argument.
00:45Two of the judges also said that existing inheritance rules were, quote, discriminatory
00:51and unconstitutional.
00:54One of the three cases involved the housing authority declining to consider Infinger's
00:58application to rent a public flat with his husband because their marriage in Canada was
01:03not recognized in Hong Kong.
01:08It's very difficult.
01:09My case has been going on since 2018, and it has been almost five or six years now.
01:16Most of all, I want to thank my partner for supporting me for so many years.
01:22Jerome Miao is the co-founder of Hong Kong Marriage Equality.
01:26I think the court sent a very clear message that, you know, differential treatment on
01:30the grounds of sexual orientation, it's wrong, it violates human dignity, it violates equality,
01:38which delivers a very strong message to the general public that, you know, we need, we
01:45should, you know, treat these people, you know, equally.
01:48Hong Kong's top court last September ruled against legalizing same-sex marriage, but
01:53it acknowledged the need for same-sex couples to access alternative legal frameworks to
01:58meet basic social requirements.
02:01The government was given two years to produce the framework.
02:04Following the latest ruling, a government spokesman said it respected the top court's
02:09decision.