Hong Kong’s government is no closer to legalising same-sex marriage, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a Bloomberg Invest Asia conference on Thursday.

Lam said the issue of same-sex marriage remains controversial, but indicated that a recent court ruling in immigration arrangements for same-sex couples who married abroad “does help” to bring overseas talent to the city. She had been responding to concerns that a failure to legalise same-sex marriage could harm businesses who want to attract foreign talent.

Last July, the Court of Final Appeal upheld a lower court’s judgement in favour of a lesbian expat known as QT, a ruling that has been hailed a “landmark decision” for the city’s LGBTQ+ community.

The court ruled that denying a spousal visa to QT on the basis of marital status amounted to unlawful discrimination. Prior to the ruling, QT was only allowed to enter the city on a tourist visa, on the grounds that her same-sex union was not recognised under Hong Kong law. Read more via Hong Kong Free Press