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5.2 marriage and trans it doesn't matter how much i like them, i can't marry them anyway Mia has always dreamt of her wedding day; although she doesn't know if it's even possible for her to be legally married in HK. Her birth certificate and HKID both indicate her sex assigned at birth as male. Even if she can change her gender once she's completed the surgery, that might not guarantee her rights to marry the man she loves. Does that mean that she can only marry a woman?
W v Registrar of Marriages Trans woman W underwent gender affirming surgery in 2008 and changed her HKID gender to Female. Same year in November, W made an inquiry through her attorney to figure out if she can legally marry her boyfriend. The Registrar of Marriages rejected her request on the grounds that W's birth certificate assigned her as male at birth, whilst the HK government only refers to a person's birth certificate but not ID or passport for marriage purposes. At the time HK does not recognise same sex marriage. W submitted the case to the court for judicial review, saying that her marriage and privacy rights were violated. Both the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal rejected W's claim. W made her case to the High Court, was ruled in favor of the case in 2013, and she could finally marry her boyfriend. The High Court issued a one-year stay of enforcement of the ruling to give the government more time to amend the law.
