70% of people in committed same-sex relationships want to marry, Hong Kong survey finds
Hong Kong Free Press
Around 70 per cent of people in committed same-sex relationships want to get married, research has shown, as the deadline for the Hong Kong government to establish a framework to recognise same-sex relationships loomed.
Researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) Sexualities Research Programme announced the results of a study into sentiments towards marriage among the LGBTQ community on Monday. According to their findings, almost half of respondents said they were in a committed same-sex relationship.
Among them, 69.5 per cent said they “wanted to or very much wanted” to marry their same-sex partner. Only 2.8 per cent said they did not want to do so.
“This shows that marriage is a very important institution among the LGBT+ [survey] participants,” Suen Yiu-tung, an associate professor at CUHK’s Gender Studies Programme, said in Cantonese at a press conference.
Suen added that younger participants were more likely to want to get married than older participants, but that there was no statistical difference in the marital intentions between men and women.
The researchers surveyed 908 people who were recruited through LGBTQ community groups and advertisements on social media between May and August 2023. All participants were aged 16 or above, cisgender, and identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer or otherwise non-heterosexual.
The publication of the research came as a deadline for the Hong Kong government to institute a framework for the legal recognition of same-sex unions neared, following a top court decision in September 2023.
The Court of Final Appeal stopped short of recognising same-sex marriages, but ordered the government to come up with alternative means within two years for the legal recognition of same-sex relationships such as civil unions.
Suen said that because same-sex relationships were not recognised in Hong Kong, many people in the LGBTQ community lived under constant stress and anxiety that they would be treated unfairly.
Around 94 per cent of survey respondents who were in a committed or legalised same-sex relationship feared that if their partner fell ill, hospitals would not recognised them as their spouse.
There had been reports of people in same-sex relationships being discriminated during hospital visitations, Suen said.
Practical considerations of marriage
At the Monday press conference, the university research team invited two same-sex married couples to talk about their relationships and what marriage meant to them.
Dark Chan told reporters that she got married to her partner last June. She said while some regarded marriage as just a sheet of paper, there were many practical considerations at hand. She said she was concerned about what would happen to their inheritance if one of them died, and that getting married would make after-death and inheritance arrangements easier.
“After I pass away, I do not want my family members to have any disagreements with the person I love,” Chan, a waiter, said.
Alan Hau, who married his partner Chris Cheng in March 2022, also talked about the handling of inheritance matters. He added that he wanted to marry Cheng also because he hoped that Cheng, a freelancer, would be able to enjoy spousal benefits such as being covered by his employer’s insurance plan.
“I want to be able to show my family that this is really the person that I love, and that I have a lifetime promise to protect him,” he said.
The CUHK researchers also surveyed 146 parents of LGBTQ children, around 54 per cent of whom were “very much worried” that their children would not get married.
Just under 62 per cent agreed or very much agreed that same-sex marriage should be legally recognised in Hong Kong, while around 28 per cent were neutral and 10 per cent disagreed.
Family members of the two couples were also invited to the press conference. They said they supported their children’s marriages, though some said they were initially skeptical when their children came out to them.
Danny, Hau’s father, said he was not sure he believed his son when he told him he was gay. But at the same time he did not think there was “anything wrong” and said he would be happy as long as his son was. Eventually, he came to terms with his son’s sexual orientation, an acknowledgement that made the younger Hau “very happy.”
“Before they got married, our family got to know [Cheng], and we got to know his family too. There was no awkwardness,” he said. “So, why shouldn’t they get married?”
Looming deadline for framework
Activists have long criticised Hong Kong’s limited rights and protections for the LGBTQ community, seeing the judicial system as the only hope for reversing laws they say are rooted in discrimination.
The top court ruling in 2023 ordering the government to establish a framework for recognising same-sex unions was one in a number of victories in which judges sided with the LGBTQ community. In November, the top court ruled in favour of same-sex married couples’ housing and inheritance rights.
Still, authorities have been criticised for being slow to act on court rulings. Despite the two-year deadline for the government to establish a framework for recognising same-sex unions being around nine months away, the authorities have yet to begin a public consultation. There have also been no public efforts to reach out to LGBTQ organisations.
“I am a bit worried… there hasn’t been any updates,” Cheng, whose marriage to Hau is not recognised in Hong Kong, told reporters in Cantonese. “I’m worried that the government will drag it on past the two-year [deadline].”
Hau said that if the government was not listening to LGBTQ NGOs, it could at least look at data, such as the findings from Suen’s study showing that same-sex couples and their families were in favour of recognising same-sex marriage.
Co-founder of NGO Hong Kong Marriage Equality Jerome Yau, who also attended the press conference, said his group had sent a submission to the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau last year. The department responded with a “standard official reply,” he said.
“They noted our submission, they said they are fully aware of our position and now the authorities… will make further announcement in due course,” he said.
“The sooner they let us know, the better. In general, society as a whole deserves to know the direction. They want the clarity. And I think that would help society to discuss the way forward,” Yau added, adding that a recognition of same-sex relationships would strengthen the institution of marriage.
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