Overview

• The government published the Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill in the official gazette and formally submitted it to the Legislative Council on July 10.
• First and second readings of the five-part bill are scheduled for the Legislative Council session on July 16.
• The bill allows adult same-sex couples, including those with foreign-registered unions where at least one partner is a Hong Kong resident, to register partnerships if they are not blood relatives.
• Recognised couples would receive medical privileges such as hospital visits, access to health records, after-death arrangements, and organ transplant rights.
• The legislation upholds that registered partnerships are not marriages and prescribes up to two years’ imprisonment for anyone tampering with partnership records.