The Hong Kong Legislative Council voted against a controversial bill on Wednesday that would have allowed some same-sex couples to register their partnership legally. It was opposed by 71 votes to 14, leaving Hong Kong’s local government less than two months to comply with their top court’s ruling .

The bill follows a 2023 Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (HKCFA) case that challenged a homosexual couple’s right to be recognized as married. The couple had been married in New York since 2013, and had been trying to get recognized since 2018. The HKCFA gave the government a two-year deadline, October 27, 2025, to establish an alternate legal framework recognizing already existing same-sex marriages.

To fulfill their duty, the government proposed a new registration system in

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