Hong Kong’s top court has urged the government to create an alternative framework for same-sex relationships to be legally recognized. The final appellate court's ruling: The Court of Final Appeal’s ruling on Tuesday comes in response to a lawsuit by activist Jimmy Sham seeking legal recognition of his 2013 same-sex marriage in New York, which had been denied twice by Hong Kong's lower courts. Sham is also one of the activists facing legal action under Hong Kong's national security law imposed by the Chinese government in 2020.