Ng was no stranger to standing up to the government and three months prior to his death had succeeded in a case with the high court ruling that same-sex married couples can inherit the estate of their spouse without a will, which the Hong Kong government is appealing.
Despite this, Li has been unable to fulfil his late husbands wishes because Hong Kong does not recognise same sex marriages, even those that were officiated in other countries.In fact, because Li’s gay marriage is not recognised under existing laws, he is denied from attending to the administrative arrangements as a next-of-kin without having authorisation from his spouse’s mother, which was initially forthcoming.