A gay man on Tuesday mounted a legal challenge to repeal Hong Kong laws that criminalise sexual activities involving gay men, saying they were discriminatory and unconstitutional. The seven contested sections under the Crimes Ordinance covered homosexual buggery, gross indecency by man and the conduct of procuring young person to resort to, or be on premise or vessel, for intercourse, prostitution, buggery or homosexual act.
Yeung Chu-wing, a volunteer from local sexual minorities rights group Rainbow Action, argued that such laws were discriminatory since they targeted only gay men without providing equivalent criminal sanctions against heterosexuals or lesbians for the same or comparable conduct.
He is demanding that the High Court declare the relevant sections inconsistent with Article 25 of the Basic Law and Article 22 of the Bill of Rights, and therefore unconstitutional.
“The existence of discriminatory provisions against homosexuals in the Crimes Ordinance has the effect of stigmatising homosexuals in Hong Kong and reinforcing public prejudice against homosexuals,” the application for leave to apply for judicial review said. “This seriously affects the dignity of the applicant as a member of the homosexual community in Hong Kong and causes distress to the applicant.”
The Basic Law the city’s mini-constitution, provides that all Hong Kong residents shall be equal before the law, while the Bill of Rights further states that all persons “are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law”.
Yeung’s case came after the Law Reform Commission completed a consultation in March on the abolition of sexual offences based on gender and sexual orientation. It presents a broader challenge compared with a similar judicial review successfully lodged by William Roy Leung in 2004, through the same legal team at Vidler and Co Solicitors.
Mr Justice Michael Hartmann in 2005 found the law had unfairly discriminated against gay men. But the disputed sections continued to stand for another eight years until November 2014, when the ordinance was finally amended to allow gay men commit buggery or an act of gross indecency, provided they are 16 or older.
Yeung, 24, said he was keen to eliminate discrimination against the LGBT community, given his personal experience as a gay man who had been isolated at school and ostracised by his family.