香港法院裁決同性伴侶有權(quán)獲得配偶簽證

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s top court ruled on Wednesday that committed same-sex couples
living in the city had the same rights to spousal visas as married heterosexual couples, a decision that advocates said could have ripple effects in advancing gay rights.

香港——香港終審法院周三裁決，在該市居住的同性伴侶與結(jié)了婚的異性伴侶享有同樣的配偶簽證權(quán)，權(quán)益倡導(dǎo)人士表示，該決定可能對推進(jìn)同性戀權(quán)利具有深遠(yuǎn)影響。

The case, which was brought in 2014 by a British woman who wanted to join her partner, galvanized gay rights activists who said that Hong Kong had not been living up to its image as “Asia’s world city” by failing, until now, to recognize such rights. Banks and law firms had pushed for such recognition to lure and keep top talent in the financial and business center.

2014年，一名希望與伴侶一道獲得簽證的英國女性對該案提起訴訟，受到刺激的同性戀權(quán)益倡導(dǎo)人士曾表示香港一直未能認(rèn)可此類權(quán)利，辜負(fù)了其“亞洲國際都會”的形象。銀行和律所已經(jīng)推動讓此類權(quán)利得到認(rèn)可，以吸引和留住這個金融、商業(yè)中心的頂尖人才。

“This judgment is a milestone for Hong Kong and a watershed moment” for gay rights across Asia, Jan Wetzel, senior legal adviser at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

“這一裁決是香港的里程碑，也是‘亞洲各地同性戀權(quán)利’的分水嶺時刻”，國際特赦組織(Amnesty International)高級法律顧問揚(yáng)·維哲爾(Jan Wetzel)在一份聲明中表示。

The woman at the center of the case, known in court papers only as QT, came to Hong Kong as a visitor in 2011, several months after entering a same-sex civil partnership in Britain with SS, a woman of South African and British nationality who had taken a job in Hong Kong. QT’s application for a dependent visa was refused on the basis that marriage is defined in Hong Kong as the union of one man and one woman.

位于該案中心的那名女子(法庭文件僅稱其為QT)在2011年以訪客身份來到香港，此前幾個月，她在英國與SS結(jié)成了同性民事伴侶關(guān)系，SS是一名擁有南非和英國國籍的女子，她接受了一份香港的工作。當(dāng)局以香港婚姻為一名男子與一名女子結(jié)合的依據(jù)，拒絕了QT的受養(yǎng)人簽證申請。

Without such a visa, a foreign partner would be able to stay in Hong Kong only on a short-term tourist visa and would not be able to work or receive public services.

沒有這種簽證，外國伴侶僅能持短期旅游簽證留在香港，并且無法工作或獲得公共服務(wù)。

QT took the government to court, claiming discrimination based on sexual orientation. She lost in 2016 in the Court of First Instance, which said it would be unlawful for the government to accept same-sex partnerships “through the back door.” Last fall, the Court of Appeal ruled unanimously in her favor on the grounds that the visa policy was indirectly discriminatory. That decision was upheld in Wednesday’s unanimous ruling by the Court of Final Appeal.

QT將政府告上法庭，聲稱后者存在基于性取向的歧視。2016年，她在原訟法庭敗訴，當(dāng)時法院表示政府通過“走后門”接受同性伴侶形式是不合法的。去年秋天，上訴法庭以簽證政策為間接歧視為由，一致作出了有利于她的判決。該決定在周三終審法庭一致作出的裁決中得到了支持。

In a statement, QT said the ruling “affirms what millions of us in this wonderful and vibrant city know to be true, that discrimination based on sexual orientation, like any other form of discrimination, is offensive and demeaning.”

在聲明中，QT表示該裁決“重申了在這個美好、充滿活力的城市中數(shù)百萬人知道的事實(shí)，即基于性取向的歧視和任何其他形式的歧視一樣，都是冒犯且有損人格的”。

Her lawyer, Michael Vidler, said that while the case was not specifically about same-sex marriage in Hong Kong, the decision had implications for local residents as well as expatriates.

她的律師韋智達(dá)(Michael Vidler)表示，盡管該案不是專門關(guān)于香港同性婚姻的，但這一決定對當(dāng)?shù)鼐用窦皟S居香港的人都有很大意義。

For Hong Kong residents who have gone abroad to marry in Canada, the United States and other countries that recognize same-sex marriage, Mr. Vidler said, the ruling could be applied in areas like housing, succession rights and adoption rights.

對前往加拿大、美國及其他承認(rèn)同性婚姻的國家結(jié)婚的香港居民來說，這個裁決可應(yīng)用于住房、繼承權(quán)及領(lǐng)養(yǎng)權(quán)等領(lǐng)域，韋智達(dá)說。

“Logically, if the government is going to apply this decision in relation to immigration policy, it should see that the writing is on the wall,” he said, although it may require litigation.

“從邏輯上來說，如果政府要將這個判決應(yīng)用于與移民政策相關(guān)的事務(wù)，前景已經(jīng)很清楚了，”他說，盡管可能還需要經(jīng)過訴訟。

A spokesman for the Immigration Department said the government respected the court’s decision.

入境事務(wù)處的一名發(fā)言人表示政府尊重法院的決定。

“We are studying the judgment carefully and shall seek legal advice as necessary before deciding the way forward,” he said.

“我們正在仔細(xì)研究裁決，在決定如何向前推進(jìn)，會在必要時尋求法律意見，”他說。

More than 30 major banks and law firms had petitioned the court to participate in the final appeal, citing concerns that Hong Kong’s immigration policy made the city less attractive to top international talent. Their request was denied.

超過30家大型銀行和律所都已經(jīng)向法庭申請參加最終上訴，理由是擔(dān)心香港的移民政策已經(jīng)對國際人才吸引力下降。他們的請求遭到了拒絕。

The QT ruling is seen as a promising development for a case brought by Angus Leung, a gay civil servant who is seeking to claim spousal benefits for his British partner. Mark Daly, Mr. Leung’s lawyer, said he would review the decision to see how it applied to the case, which they lost at the appeals level last month and plan to appeal to the top court.

QT案的裁決被視為同性戀公務(wù)員梁鎮(zhèn)罡(Angus Leung)提起訴訟后的良好進(jìn)展，他正在謀求為其英國籍伴侶獲得配偶福利。梁鎮(zhèn)罡的律師帝理邁(Mark Daly)表示，他將對該裁決進(jìn)行評估，以確定能如何適用于自己代理的案子，他們上個月在上訴法庭敗訴，正計劃上訴到終審法庭。

Mr. Leung said the ruling demonstrated that “without undermining the current Hong Kong marriage system, there’s always a way to give same-sex benefits without any discrimination.”

梁鎮(zhèn)罡說，這項(xiàng)裁決顯示，“在不損害香港現(xiàn)行婚姻制度的情況下，總是有辦法給予同性戀者福利而不歧視他們”。

The ruling also came a day after the University of Hong Kong released the results of a 2017 poll showing that more than half of Hong Kong residents surveyed support same-sex marriage, compared with 38 percent in 2013.

作出這項(xiàng)裁決的一天前，香港大學(xué)公布了一項(xiàng)2017年民調(diào)的結(jié)果，顯示在接受調(diào)查的香港居民中，半數(shù)以上支持同性婚姻，而2013年這一比例為38%。

The survey also found similar support among Hong Kong residents for granting immigration visas to same-sex partners.

這項(xiàng)調(diào)查也發(fā)現(xiàn)，香港居民同樣支持向同性伴侶發(fā)放移民簽證。

That shift is in line with international trends, said Kelley Loper, an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law who was involved in running the survey.

參與了這項(xiàng)調(diào)查的香港大學(xué)法學(xué)院副教授凱莉·洛珀(Kelley Loper)說，這一轉(zhuǎn)變符合國際趨勢。

“Hong Kong is an international, cosmopolitan city, so it’s not surprising that views are becoming more progressive over time,” she said.

“香港是一座國際化的大都市，因此隨著時間推移，觀念越來越進(jìn)步并不奇怪”，她說。

Public opinion in Hong Kong has been influenced by a court ruling in Taiwan last year that could make it the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, said Waiwai Yeo, a spokeswoman for the Les Corner Empowerment Association, a Hong Kong group that advocates equal rights for female sexual minorities.

女性性少數(shù)群體平權(quán)倡導(dǎo)組織女角平權(quán)協(xié)作組(Les Corner Empowerment Association)的發(fā)言人姚慧慧(音)說，香港民眾的看法受到了臺灣去年一項(xiàng)法院判決的影響，那項(xiàng)判決可能會使臺灣成為亞洲第一個將同性婚姻合法化的地區(qū)。

Local events like the Hong Kong Pride Parade and Pink Dot have also shaped public opinion, Ms. Yeo said, as has the greater publicity surrounding openly gay celebrities like the Hong Kong actor Vinci Wong, who came out in 2013 and married his boyfriend in 2016.

姚慧慧說，香港的驕傲游行和一點(diǎn)粉紅(Pink Dot)等本土活動也塑造了公眾態(tài)度，香港演員王賢志(Vinci Wong)等公開身份的同性戀名人得到的更廣大宣傳也起到了作用，王賢志于2013年出柜，并于2016年與他的男友結(jié)婚。

But strong opposition to gay rights remains in what is in many ways a conservative society. Last month, a Hong Kong group said it had successfully petitioned the government to remove children’s books that discuss same-sex parenting and related themes from the main stacks of public libraries.

但在這個從許多方面而言仍算保守的社會里，對同性戀權(quán)利的強(qiáng)烈反對依然存在。上個月，一個香港團(tuán)體表示，它已成功地向政府請?jiān)?，要求從公共圖書館的主要書庫中取下有關(guān)同性父母育兒和相關(guān)主題的兒童書籍。

Ten books, with titles like “Mommy, Mama, and Me,” “Daddy, Papa, and Me” and “The Boy in the Dress,” were moved to closed stacks, where people can get access to them only by asking librarians, according to the group, the Family School Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance Concern Group.

根據(jù)上述組織性傾向條例家庭關(guān)注組(Family School Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance Concern Group)，包括《媽咪、媽媽和我》(Mommy, Mama, and Me)、《爹地、爸爸和我》(Daddy, Papa, and Me)和《穿裙子的男孩》(The Boy in the Dress)在內(nèi)的十本書被移到了封閉的書庫，人們只能通過詢問圖書管理員才能找到它們。

Ms. Yeo noted that while almost 70 percent of respondents in the Hong Kong University poll favored a law against discrimination based on sexual orientation, the government had not moved to establish one. Hong Kong was chosen to hold the Gay Games in 2022, but it could end up being the first host city where same-sex marriage is not recognized.

姚慧慧指出，雖然在香港大學(xué)的民調(diào)中，近七成受訪者贊成制定一項(xiàng)禁止性取向歧視的法律，但政府并未采取行動。香港被選為2022年同性戀運(yùn)動會(Gay Games)的舉辦地，但最終可能成為第一個不承認(rèn)同性婚姻的主辦城市。

Raymond Chan, an opposition member of the Legislative Council who is Hong Kong’s first openly gay lawmaker, wrote a post for Medium in which he applauded QT and others for going through “a mentally and financially draining legal process.”

香港第一位公開身份的同性戀立法議員、立法會反對黨成員陳志全在Medium上撰文，稱贊QT和其他人熬過了“一場耗神費(fèi)財?shù)姆蛇^程”。

In an email, he pointed out that many international banks and law firms in Hong Kong had moved on their own to provide benefits for their employees’ same-sex partners, putting them “light-years” ahead of local officials.

他在一封電子郵件中指出，香港的許多國際銀行和律師事務(wù)所已自行為員工的同性伴侶提供福利，使他們比當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T領(lǐng)先了“幾個光年”。

Mr. Chan said that the government should take the opportunity to establish civil unions, but that it was unlikely to do so. In the meantime, he plans to call for Hong Kong to study how the process would work.

陳志全說，政府應(yīng)該借此機(jī)會成立公民工會，但它不太可能這樣做。與此同時，他計劃呼吁香港研究這一過程將如何運(yùn)作。

“The government will face endless legal and political challenges if it keeps on stalling progress toward equality,” he said.

他說：“如果政府繼續(xù)拖延邁向平等的進(jìn)程，將面臨無窮無盡的法律和政治挑戰(zhàn)。”

Alan Chan, a volunteer aide to Mr. Chan who is not related to the lawmaker, said the ruling could allow him to reunite with his partner of eight years, an American living in Taiwan.

陳志全的志愿助理艾倫·陳(Alan Chan，兩人無親緣關(guān)系)說，這項(xiàng)裁決可以讓他與他八年的伴侶、一名旅居臺灣的美國人團(tuán)聚。

“It just solved a lot of problems in our lives,” he said, “because we’re now in a long-distance relationship. We’ve been doing this for a while, so I kind of got used to it. But we know that one day, someday, we want to be together again.”

他說：“這就解決了我們生活中的許多問題，因?yàn)槲覀儸F(xiàn)在處于異地戀中。我們已經(jīng)這樣一段時間了，所以我都有點(diǎn)習(xí)慣了。但我們知道，有一天，總有一天，我們想再次相聚。”