A court in South Korea has recognized the rights of a same-sex couple in the country for the first time.
In a landmark decision, the Seoul High Court determined that a government health insurer owed coverage to a customer’s spouse after the company withdrew it after learning the pair were gay.
The men married in 2019, but same-sex marriage is not permitted in South Korea.
According to activists, the ruling is a significant step forward for LGBT rights in the country.
The case, however, will be appealed to the Supreme Court.
The plaintiff, So Seong-wook said he welcomed the ruling and “recognition of a very obvious right that has not been given”.
He sued the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) in 2021 after being denied coverage under his partner Kim Yongmin’s plan.
The couple was initially granted coverage, but it was later revoked because the NHIS claimed they made a mistake in granting it to the same-sex couple.
Celebrating the ruling, Mr So praised the court for seeing “the principle of equality as an important issue”.
“I think it has a great meaning for LGBTQ people who have been in a discriminatory situation, those who support them and all those who are discriminated against,” he told the news sources.
A lower court’s decision was overturned by the Seoul High Court. It was determined that spouse coverage under the NHIS included semi-defined families as well.
Additionally, it concluded that depriving same-sex couples of these advantages constituted discrimination.
“Everyone can be a minority in some way. To be in the minority is to be different from the majority and cannot be wrong itself,” the court judgment read.
“In a society dominated by the principle of majority rule, awareness of the rights of minorities and efforts to protect them are necessary.”
According to a Human Rights Watch report from the previous year, discrimination against LGBT individuals is still “pervasive” in South Korean society.
Without the legal status of marriage, same-sex couples are frequently denied the right to newlywed benefits from the government.
After Tuesday’s court ruling, Amnesty International released a statement saying: “There is still a long way to go to end discrimination against the LGBTI community, but this ruling offers hope that prejudice can be overcome.”
