Pro-establishment lawmakers protest at legalisation of same-sex marriage
The government is appealing against a High Court ruling last month that entitles a gay civil servant’s spouse to the same benefits as his heterosexual colleagues. A Department of Justice spokesman said it had applied to appeal against the judgment on Thursday but would not further elaborate. “As there are ongoing legal proceedings, it is not appropriate for the department to make further comments, ” he said. Earlier in the day lawmaker Holden Chow Ho-ding, of the pro-establishment Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, led fellow party members to petition government headquarters, urging the government to appeal. “We oppose any discrimination against gay people, but we cannot agree with the legalisation of same-sex marriage, ” Chow said. Senior immigration officer Angus Leung Chun-kwong married his partner, Scott Adams, in New Zealand in 2014. He ran into problems with the Civil Service Bureau when he tried to update his marital status. He launched a legal challenge in 2015 that centred on civil service regulations, which state that officers’ benefits can extend to their spouses.
