Latest news with #LGBTQ rights
South China Morning Post
01-08-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong lawmaker apologises to minister after dispute over same-sex bill
A politician who sits on Hong Kong's top decision-making Executive Council has apologised to the city's constitutional minister after slamming his 'annoying' attempts to lobby support for a controversial same-sex partnership bill. Legislator Stanley Ng Chau-pei, who is also president of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), held out an olive branch on Friday, praising the minister's 'dedication' and 'hard work' after earlier chiding the official for 'threatening' him. At the centre of the brouhaha was the Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill, which seeks to establish a framework for the recognition of such partnerships. If the bill is passed, same-sex partners registered locally will be granted rights related to medical and after-death matters. Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai earlier said the government had an 'ongoing legal duty' to fulfil its responsibilities related to same-sex relationships in response to a landmark ruling by the Court of Final Appeal two years ago. The court granted the government until October this year to draw up laws setting out 'core rights' for same-sex couples, but did not specify what they might be. Lawmaker and Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions president Stanley Ng has said he was 'threatened' by constitutional and mainland affairs minister Erick Tsang for opposing the same-sex bill. Photo: Jonathan Wong Major political groups, including the FTU, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong and the Liberal Party, have expressed their opposition to the bill. The New People's Party endorsed the bill.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi 'looking into' getting remarried in UK
Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi are considering getting remarried in the UK if the US overturns same-sex marriage. The couple - whose move to the Cotswolds in South West England was spurred on by the re-election of President Donald Trump in 2024 - tied the knot during an intimate ceremony at their home in Los Angeles, California, in 2008. But after a vote by Southern Baptists in June to endorse a resolution that would look to overturn Obergefell v Hodges - the Supreme Court case that legalised same-sex marriage across the US in June 2015 - Ellen and Portia are "looking into" saying "I do" in the UK to protect their marriage. Speaking to TV presenter Richard Bacon, 49, during her In Conversation with Ellen DeGeneres event at Cheltenham's Everyman theatre on July 20, she revealed: "The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage. 'They're trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. 'Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we're going to get married here.' A reversal of Obergefell would not ban gay marriage, but would call "for laws that affirm marriage between one man and one women'. Later in the talk, Ellen, 67, expressed her sadness that not all societies accept people of all sexualities. She said: "I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences. "So until we're there, I think there's a hard place to say we have huge progress.' Ellen confirmed she and Portia, 52, moved to the UK because of Donald Trump, 79, being re-elected as President of the United States in November 2024. Admitting that 'everything here is just better' after leaving the Republican Party-led country, the former talk-show host said: 'We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, 'He got in.' And we're like, 'We're staying here.''
South China Morning Post
15-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's leader vows to respect Legco decision on same-sex partnership bill
Hong Kong's leader has said he will 'respect' the outcome of the legislative scrutiny of a government's proposal to recognise same-sex partnerships, amid mounting opposition from lawmakers, giving no further details on whether authorities will submit a revised bill if the current one is vetoed. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that while authorities must come up with a framework for same-sex partnership recognition in line with the Court of Final Appeal's ruling, his administration would respect the Legislative Council's power to pass or veto bills. 'Under the Basic Law, the judiciary exercises independent adjudication power, whereas the Legco exercises legislative power. Both of them perform their respective constitutional roles. The Hong Kong government respects the judiciary and the Legco in exercising their respective powers under the Basic Law,' Lee said. The government is set to introduce the bill for its first reading at the Legislative Council on Wednesday. The legislation would allow couples who have a valid same-sex marriage, partnership or civil union registered in a jurisdiction outside Hong Kong to apply to have their relationship recognised in the city. The proposal also grants same-sex couples some rights, such as those related to medical and after-death matters, but some LGBTQ activists described it as conservative and vague. John Lee has said that the Hong Kong government respects the judiciary and Legco in exercising their powers under the Basic Law. Photo: Jonathan Wong
France 24
15-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Hong Kong leader backs same-sex couples' rights bill
Lee's administration proposed legislation this month to recognise some rights for same-sex partners whose marriages are registered abroad. Despite LGBTQ activists arguing it does not go far enough, the proposal drew near-universal criticism from the pro-Beijing politicians that dominate Hong Kong's legislature. The clash pitted Lee against conservative lawmakers from his own camp and led some to fear the proposal might be pulled. The city's top court ordered Hong Kong's government to create an "alternative framework" for LGBTQ couples when it quashed a bid to recognise same-sex marriage in 2023. Lee said on Tuesday the government "must not act in violation" of the Court of Final Appeal's judgement. "Otherwise, it will be against the rule of law... Violating the rule of law will mean serious consequences," he told reporters. The government will respect the legislature's final decision, he added. In 2023, the court unanimously defined marriage as "confined to opposite-sex couples" -- a stance Lee reiterated on Tuesday. LGBTQ activists say the bill -- which only covers "rights related to medical matters" and "right to handle after-death arrangements" -- fails to satisfy the court's framework requirements. China is not among the countries around the world that have legalised marriage equality since the Netherlands became the first to do so in 2001. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China with its own legislature and a mini-constitution that guarantees a "high degree of autonomy". Pro-Beijing firebrand lawmaker Junius Ho earlier floated the idea of asking Beijing's top legislature to overrule Hong Kong's apex court to "protect traditional family values".
