Since the Chinese government imposed a major overhaul of Hong Kong’s political system four years ago, the city’s legislature has been stacked with loyalists who have sided with the government on almost every issue.

自四年前中国政府对香港的政治制度进行重大改革以来，香港立法会已被亲政府的支持者占据，他们几乎在所有议题上都站在政府一边。

But there is one law proposed by the Hong Kong government that faces opposition from a large number of lawmakers. It’s a bill that would recognize same-sex partnerships and provide people in such relationships with rights such as the authority to make medical decisions on behalf of their partners.

但香港政府提出的一项法律草案却遭到了大量议员的反对。该法案旨在承认同性伴侣关系，并赋予当事人相关权利，比如代表伴侣做出医疗决策的权力。

On Wednesday, 71 of the city’s 89 legislators voted against the bill.

周三，香港89名立法会议员中有71人投票反对该法案。

Holden Chow, the vice chair of the city’s largest pro-Beijing party, had said that enacting the bill could “result in dire consequences” for traditional Chinese family values. But Hong Kong Marriage Equality, an advocacy group, urged the government to reintroduce the bill after legislative council elections in December.

香港最大亲北京党派的副主席周浩鼎表示，通过该法案可能会对中国传统家庭价值观“造成严重后果”。但倡导团体“婚姻平权协会”敦促政府在12月的立法会选举后重新提交该法案。

Hong Kong does not recognize same-sex marriage. The proposed law would allow only same-sex couples who married or entered a civil union overseas to register as lawful couples in Hong Kong, and extends rights to such individuals in a limited way.

香港目前不承认同性婚姻。拟议中的法律仅允许在海外结婚或缔结民事伴侣关系的同性伴侣在香港注册为合法伴侣，并以有限的方式赋予他们相应的权利。

Once registered, people in same-sex relationships would be entitled to rights related to the medical matters involving their partners, including taking part in medical decisions. They would also be allowed to make arrangements if their partners died, including burial, cremation and the keeping of ashes.

一旦注册，同性伴侣将在涉及其伴侣的医疗事务中享有相关权利，包括参与医疗决策。他们还可以在伴侣去世时安排相关事宜，包括葬礼、火化及保存骨灰。

The bill does not cover parental or adoption rights, nor does it directly address public welfare benefits for couples.

该法案不包括父母权利或收养权，也未直接涉及伴侣的公共福利待遇。

香港亲北京政党成员周浩鼎表示，该法案可能会对传统的中华家庭价值观“造成严重后果”。

The opposition to the bill has dismayed activists who say it is an important step forward, even if it falls far short of similar laws elsewhere. Taiwan’s government became the first in Asia to to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019. Nepal and Thailand followed in 2023 and 2025.

反对该法案的声音令活动人士感到失望，他们认为即使该法案远远不及其他地区的类似法律，但仍是一个重要的进步。台湾政府于2019年成为亚洲首个将同性婚姻合法化的政府，尼泊尔和泰国分别在2023年和2025年加入此列。

Supporters also argued that recognizing same-sex couples would be good for Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial hub.

支持者们还认为，承认同性伴侣关系有助于提升香港作为国际金融中心的声誉。

“If you’re trying to attract people from different parts of the world — this is part of what you have to deal with, because people have families and partners,” said Denise Tang, the head of cultural studies at Lingnan University, who researches lesbians and aging in Hong Kong. She said the opposition to the bill goes against public opinion in the city.

“如果你想吸引来自世界各地的人才——这就是你必须面对的问题，因为人们有家庭和伴侣，”岭南大学文化研究系副教授邓芝珊说。她专注于研究香港的女同性恋群体和老龄化问题。她表示，反对该法案的声音与香港市民的公众舆论背道而驰。

The most recent study on the topic, published in 2023, showed that 60 percent of people in Hong Kong supported same-sex marriage, compared with 50 percent in 2017 and 38 percent in 2013.

2023年发表的最新研究显示，香港有60%的人支持同性婚姻，而2017年和2013年的支持率分别为50%和38%。

2014年，香港举行的一场骄傲游行。

The political opposition has put Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, in an awkward spot. The city’s top court had ordered the government to pass legislation recognizing same-sex couples’ rights by this fall. Mr. Lee has encouraged lawmakers to pass the bill, arguing that the rule of law is the cornerstone of Hong Kong’s success.

政治上的反对使香港特首李家超陷入尴尬境地。香港最高法院已下令政府在今年秋季之前通过承认同性伴侣权利的相关立法。李家超鼓励立法会议员通过该法案，强调法治是香港成功的基石。

But he has also said that the government would ultimately respect the final decision of the legislature, and it was unclear what would happen if the legislature votes down the proposal.

但他也表示，政府最终将尊重立法机关的最终决定，目前尚不清楚如果立法会否决该提案，将会发生什么。

Hong Kong courts have in recent years granted small victories to residents who had married their same-sex partners abroad, upholding their rights to spousal visas and benefits related to taxation, public housing and inheritance.

近年来，香港法院在一些案件中支持了那些在海外与同性伴侣结婚的居民，维护了他们的配偶签证权利，以及在税务、公共住房和继承权等方面的福利。

In a landmark case, the activist Jimmy Sham challenged the lack of recognition and protections for same-sex couples in 2018. In its ruling in 2023, the city’s highest court said that the government had an obligation to establish an “alternate” framework that legally recognizes same-sex couples, “dispelling any sense that they belong to an inferior class of persons whose relationship is undeserving of recognition.”

在一宗具有里程碑意义的案件中，活动人士岑子杰于2018年挑战了同性伴侣缺乏认可和保护的问题。2023年，香港最高法院在判决中表示，政府有义务建立一个“替代性”框架，法律上承认同性伴侣关系，“消除任何认为他们属于不配获得承认的次等群体的观念。”

Still, the court upheld the legal definition of marriage as a monogamous union between a man and a woman in the model of a “Christian marriage or its civil equivalent.” The courts gave the government two years to draft and pass a framework.

尽管如此，法院仍维持了婚姻的法律定义，即以“基督教婚姻或其民事等同形式”为模式的一夫一妻制男女结合。法院给予政府两年的时间来起草并通过相关框架。

上个月，婚姻平权活动人士岑子杰在终审法院外。

“What we want is an equal opportunity to core rights,” Mr. Sham said in a recent phone interview. “I really hope that there would be room for improvement in the future.”

“我们想要的是获得核心权利的平等机会，”岑子杰在最近的一次电话采访中表示。“我真心希望未来能够有所改善。”

Hong Kong Marriage Equality, an advocacy group, said in a statement that the vote sent “a troubling signal” that “court rulings may be disregarded and the dignity of individuals overlooked.” It urged the government to reintroduce the bill after legislative council elections in December.

倡导团体“婚姻平权协会”在一份声明中表示，此次投票发出了“令人担忧的信号”，即“法院判决可能被忽视，个人尊严可能被漠视”。该团体敦促政府在12月的立法会选举后重新提交该法案。

Erick Tsang, Hong Kong’s secretary for constitutional affairs, told reporters that the government would consider its next steps in discussions with the Department of Justice, but would not seek an extension of the court-imposed deadline of Oct. 27 to pass the legislation.

香港政制及内地事务局局长曾国卫对记者表示，政府将与律政司商讨下一步行动，但不会寻求延长法院设定的10月27日立法截止期限。

Mr. Chow, the vice chair of the pro-establishment Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said that the authorities should deal with issues like after-death arrangements with specific administrative measures, rather than legal recognition. He described the bill as a de facto recognition of same-sex marriage, which risked “opening a Pandora’s box” of related “issues,” such as same-sex adoptions.

亲建制派政党民主建港协进联盟副主席周浩鼎表示，当局应通过具体的行政措施来处理诸如身后安排等问题，而不是通过法律形式给予承认。他将该法案形容为对同性婚姻的事实性承认，认为这有可能“打开潘多拉的盒子”，引发一系列相关“问题”，例如同性收养。

Nick Infinger is a social worker who successfully sued the government after he and his husband, whom he married in Canada, were denied public housing.

社工尼克·英芬格与丈夫（两人在加拿大结婚）申请公屋被拒后成功起诉了政府。

Many Chinese parents have trouble accepting that their children are gay because they worry about them being shunned by society, he said in an interview. He hoped that greater legal protection could help them feel more assured.

他在一次采访中表示，许多中国父母难以接受自己的孩子是同性恋，是因为他们担心孩子会被社会排斥。他希望更多的法律保障能够让这些父母感到更安心。

“It’s something I didn’t have, so I hope future generations can have it,” he said.

“这是我曾经没有的东西，所以我希望下一代能够拥有它，”他说道。