Govt loses court fight over same-sex housing snub

A gay man on Friday won his second judicial challenge against the government – this time over a policy that barred same-sex couples from officially living together in subsidised housing.

The High Court on Friday ruled in favour of Henry Li and his now-deceased partner Edgar Ng, saying the Housing Authority’s policies on adding occupants and transferring ownership of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats constituted unlawful discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

The court earlier heard how Ng married Li in the United Kingdom in 2017 and bought a second-hand HOS flat in 2018.

But the authority said only heterosexual marriage partners were considered “family members,” and the couple must pay a land premium if they wanted to add Li as an occupant of the unit.

Ng then filed a judicial review to challenge the policy, saying it goes against human rights laws and the Basic Law.

However, he died last year and Li continued the legal battle in his place.

In his ruling on Friday, High Court judge Anderson Chow said the authority’s existing policy of not recognising a same-sex spouse as a family member is “unlawful and unconstitutional” as it violates the equality provisions stipulated in the Basic Law and Hong Kong’s Bill of Rights.

“The differential treatment between same-sex married couples and opposite-sex married couples under the Spousal Policy cannot be justified, and constitutes unlawful discrimination,” Chow wrote in his judgement.

He also hit back at the government’s argument that the HOS scheme is aimed at creating a conducive environment to facilitate childbirth and family rearing.

“I consider that the Spousal Policy operates on particular individuals like the Deceased and Mr Li with such oppressive unfairness that it cannot be regarded as a proportionate means of achieving the Family Aim,” the judge added, as he ordered the “discriminatory” policy be quashed.

Chow also ordered the Housing Authority to shoulder all legal costs in the case.

Three months before Ng’s death last year, the High Court also handed down another judgement in his favour, stating that same-sex married couples can inherit the estate of their spouse without a will.