Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill

Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Long title A Bill to establish a regime for the registration of same-sex partnerships and provide for related matters; and to make related amendments to certain enactments.
Territorial extent	Hong Kong
Legislative history
Bill title	Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill
Introduced by	Erick Tsang, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Introduced	16 July 2025
First reading	16 July 2025
Related cases
Sham Tsz Kit v Secretary for Justice
Status: Pending

The Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill (Chinese: 同性伴侶關係登記條例草案) is a bill introduced by the Government of Hong Kong in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong that proposes to create a framework for recognising same-sex partnerships entered into overseas.^[1] The bill is part of the government's response to the Court of Final Appeal's decision in Sham Tsz Kit v Secretary for Justice that a substitute legal framework for same-sex partnerships must be introduced.^[2]

As of 17 July 2025, 45 legislators, which is more than half of the 89-member Legislative Council, have expressed their intention to abstain or vote down the bill, making it unlikely that the bill will become law.^[3]

Hong Kong does not recognise same-sex marriage or civil unions. While a string of court decisions have slowly afforded same-sex couples a small number of legal rights, the courts had previously consistently held that same-sex couples have no constitutional right to marry under the Basic Law, and have refused to recognise their relationships through the creation of an alternative legal framework.^[4] However, in response to judicial challenge filed by LGBT rights activist Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, Hong Kong's highest court, the Court of Final Appeal, held in 2023 in Sham Tsz Kit v Secretary for Justice that the government's failure to provide an alternative legal framework for recognising same-sex partnerships was a violation of Article 14 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, which provides for the protection of privacy. The court ordered the government to create such a framework, with the order suspended for two years to allow for implementation.^[5]

The Court of Final Appeal's ruling in the Sham Tsz Kit case gave the government two years to legislate a legal framework to recognise same-sex relationships. At a meeting of the Legislative Council's panel on constitutional affairs on 3 July 2025, the government unveiled a legislative proposal to enable same-sex partnerships formed overseas to be recognised in a limited fashion. Under the legislation, such couples would be afforded rights concerning medical decisions, including rights for hospital visits, shared medical information, organ donation and dealing with a person's remains. To be eligible, couples must have a valid overseas marriage or civil partnership or union, and at least one person must be a Hong Kong resident.^[6]

The Government gazetted the Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill on 11 July 2025. The bill was introduced in the Legislative Council for its first reading by Erick Tsang, the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, on 16 July 2025.^[7] The second reading debate began and was customarily adjourned on the same day, pending consideration of the bill by the House Committee.^[8][9]

At its meeting on 18 July 2025, the House Committee resolved to form a Bills Committee to study the bill. The Bills Committee met for the first time on 23 July 2025.^[10]

A number of key opponents of the bill, including Holden Chow, were selected to become members of the committee, with Regina Ip being the sole supporter of the bill to join the 15-member committee.^[11] Junius Ho, who was one of the bill's strongest critics at the constitutional affairs panel meeting in early July, was among 36 legislators to express an intention to join the committee, but failed to be chosen as one of the committee's 15 members.^[12][11] The membership of the Bills Committee is said to be allocated proportionate to party divisions in the legislature, with larger parties distributed with more seats in the committee. The exclusion of Ho was said to be predetermined in order not to stir up more controversies and polarisations in the society.^[13] At its first meeting on 23 July 2025, nine committee's members spoke in opposition to the bill and two tended to oppose,^[a] with Regina Ip being the only member to voice support.^[14]

With vehement criticisms from the legislators, Constitutional Secretary Erick Tsang briefed members twice on the bill to understand their position.^[15] On 31 July, FTU President Ng Chau-pei posted on social media claiming Tsang "threatened" him to support the bill or "face consequences"; Ng apologised for his "exaggerated" comments on the next day.^[16] It was reported that the lobbying by the minister was in fact calm and moderate, without pressuring lawmakers to vote in favour.^[15]

In the absence of the liberal pro-democratic opposition, all of Hong Kong's major political parties, including the DAB and FTU, have come out in opposition to the bill.^[17] The plan was presented to the opposition-free Legislative Council's Panel on Constitutional Affairs on 3 July 2025, where it was criticized by conservative pro-Beijing lawmakers for "upending traditional family values" and for being "an attack on the institution of marriage", with some accusing the government of lacking consultation. Junius Ho even called for intervention from Beijing to overturn the court decision.^[18][19] Some smaller parties and independent politicians have voiced support, including Regina Ip of the New People's Party, and legislator Paul Tse, who, despite being personally against same-sex marriage, called the government proposal a "conservative half-step" and urged other lawmakers to respect the court's ruling.

In response, the government stated that it "firmly upholds the monogamous and heterosexual marriage system" but stressed that passage of the legislation was necessary to comply with the court's ruling.^[18] Chief Executive John Lee announced his support for the bill on 15 July, on the grounds that violating the court's order would bring "serious consequences", with adverse effects on the rule of law.^[20][21]

The government's plan has also been met with criticism from LGBTQ activists, who have questioned if it complies with the court's ruling,^[22] although Jimmy Sham at last voiced support to the bill. The extra-parliamentary Democratic Party and pro-democracy Hong Kong Social Workers' General Union backed the proposal, affirming the needs to protect the sexual minorities and defend the rule of law.^[23]

A number of religious groups, including the Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association, The Boy's Brigade, Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Chinese Christian Council and the Sisters of the Precious Blood, have spoken in opposition to the legislation, while other religious groups, such as the Sheng Kung Hui, the Hong Kong Taoist Association, the Hong Kong Baptist Convention, the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Evangelical Church, have yet to respond.^[11][24][25] It was reported that the Sheng Kung Hui and the Catholic Diocese considered this topic to be controversial and could polarise the faithful, and therefore remained silence.^[26] The diocese's sexual plurality task force eventually stood against the bill.^[23]

The secretariat of the Legislative Council received over ten thousand opinion letters in regards to the bill, the most since the electoral revamp.^[27] Amongst the 6,557 published letters, over 70% were in against. ^[28]

According to Ming Pao and HK01, more than 40 legislators across multiple parties stated that they intended or were inclined to vote against the bill. At least 12 would cast a yes vote, including 5 members of the Executive Council who are bound to support the government under collective ministerial responsibility. Reverend Peter Douglas Koon said he would abstain after considering varying stance amongst social workers.^[29][3] Chinese officials had reportedly reached out to several legislators for their stance but did not whip votes or issue any instructions. A free vote is expected for the bill.^[30][31]

Group	Constituency	Members	Party		Intended vote	Note
FC	Industrial (First)	Andrew Leung		BPA	Present	The council president abstains from voting to preserve neutrality by convention.[32]
FC	Catering	Tommy Cheung		Liberal	No
FC	Commercial (First)	Jeffrey Lam		BPA	Yes	[b][c]
ECC	Election Committee	Starry Lee		DAB	No
GC	New Territories North East	Chan Hak-kan		DAB/NTAS	Yes	[b][d]
FC	Insurance	Chan Kin-por		Independent	Yes	[b]
ECC	Election Committee	Priscilla Leung		BPA/KWND	No
GC	Hong Kong Island West	Regina Ip		NPP	Yes	Bills Committee member
ECC	Election Committee	Paul Tse		Independent		Voiced support to the bill
GC	New Territories North West	Michael Tien		Roundtable
FC	Agriculture and Fisheries	Steven Ho		DAB	No
FC	Transport	Frankie Yick		Liberal	No
ECC	Election Committee	Ma Fung-kwok		New Forum
GC	New Territories South West	Chan Han-pan		DAB/NTAS	No
GC	Labour	Kwok Wai-keung		FTU	No
ECC	Election Committee	Elizabeth Quat		DAB	No
FC	Commercial (Second)	Martin Liao		Independent	Yes	[b]
FC	Engineering	Lo Wai-kwok		BPA	No	Bills Committee member
FC	Industrial (Second)	Jimmy Ng		BPA	No	Bills Committee member
ECC	Election Committee	Junius Ho		Independent	No
GC	New Territories North West	Holden Chow		DAB	No	Bills Committee member
FC	Wholesale and Retail	Shiu Ka-fai		Liberal	No	Bills Committee member
ECC	Election Committee	Yung Hoi-yan		NPP/CF	Yes
FC	Finance	Chan Chun-ying		Independent
ECC	Election Committee	Luk Chung-hung		FTU	No
GC	New Territories North	Lau Kwok-fan		DAB	No
FC	Heung Yee Kuk	Kenneth Lau		BPA
GC	Kowloon West	Vincent Cheng		DAB	No	Bills Committee member
FC	Architectural, Surveying, Planning and Landscape	Tony Tse		Independent
ECC	Election Committee	Doreen Kong		Independent	Yes
FC	Education	Chu Kwok-keung		FEW	No
GC	New Territories South East	Stanley Li		DAB/NTAS	No
ECC	Election Committee	Hoey Simon Lee		Independent		Bills Committee member; expressed no stance
FC	Financial Services	Robert Lee		Independent
GC	New Territories North East	Dominic Lee		NPP/CF	Yes	[e]
FC	Social Welfare	Tik Chi-yuen		Third Side	No
ECC	Election Committee	Lee Chun-keung		Liberal
GC	Hong Kong Island East	Stanley Ng		FTU	Yes	[b][f]
ECC	Election Committee	Johnny Ng		Independent
FC	Labour	Chau Siu-chung		FLU	No
ECC	Election Committee	Chow Man-kong		Independent
FC	Medical and Health Services	David Lam		Independent
ECC	Election Committee	Lam Chun-sing		FLU	No
GC	New Territories South East	Lam So-wai		Professional Power
ECC	Election Committee	Nixie Lam		DAB	No
ECC	Election Committee	Dennis Lam		Independent	No
FC	Legal	Lam San-keung		Independent
ECC	Election Committee	Andrew Lam		Independent
FC	Technology and Innovation	Duncan Chiu		Independent
FC	Tourism	Yiu Pak-leung		Independent
ECC	Election Committee	Wendy Hong		Independent
FC	Labour	Dennis Leung		FTU	No
GC	Kowloon West	Leung Man-kwong		KWND	Abstain
GC	Hong Kong Island East	Edward Leung		DAB	No
ECC	Election Committee	Kenneth Leung		Independent		Bills Committee member; tend to oppose
ECC	Election Committee	Chan Yuet-ming		Independent
ECC	Election Committee	Rock Chen		DAB	No
ECC	Election Committee	Chan Pui-leung		Independent
FC	HKSAR members of NPC and CPPCC, Representatives of National Organisations	Chan Yung		DAB/NTAS	No	Bills Committee chair
FC	Textiles and Garment	Sunny Tan		BPA	No
ECC	Election Committee	Judy Chan		NPP	Yes
ECC	Election Committee	Maggie Chan		Independent	No
ECC	Election Committee	Chan Siu-hung		Independent
ECC	Election Committee	Chan Hoi-yan		Independent	No
GC	New Territories South West	Joephy Chan		FTU	No
GC	Hong Kong Island West	Chan Hok-fung		DAB	No
GC	New Territories North	Gary Zhang		New Prospect
ECC	Election Committee	Lilian Kwok		DAB	No
ECC	Election Committee	Benson Luk		BPA	No
FC	Import and Export	Kennedy Wong		DAB	No
FC	Accountancy	Edmund Wong		DAB	No	Bills Committee member
ECC	Election Committee	Kingsley Wong		FTU	No	Bills Committee member
GC	Kowloon Central	Yang Wing-kit		Independent
ECC	Election Committee	Peter Koon		Independent	Abstain
ECC	Election Committee	Tang Fei		FEW	No	Bills Committee member
GC	Kowloon East	Tang Ka-piu		FTU	No
ECC	Election Committee	Lai Tung-kwok		NPP	Yes
ECC	Election Committee	Lau Chi-pang		Independent
FC	Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication	Kenneth Fok		Independent
FC	Real Estate and Construction	Louis Loong		Independent
GC	Kowloon East	Ngan Man-yu		DAB	No
ECC	Election Committee	Carmen Kan		Independent		Voiced doubts on the bill for a lack of consensus in the society[34]
ECC	Election Committee	Tan Yueheng		Independent
ECC	Election Committee	So Cheung-wing		Independent		Bills Committee member; tend to oppose
FC	Commercial (Third)	Yim Kong		Independent		Bills Committee member; expressed no stance
ECC	Election Committee	Adrian Ho		NPP	Yes
ECC	Election Committee	Shang Hailong		Independent
ECC	Election Committee	Chan Wing-kwong		DAB	No
ECC	Election Committee	William Wong		Independent