A transgender pastor has vowed to officiate same-sex marriages in Hong Kong despite a legal challenge failing to provide assurances that he will not face arrest. Marrz Balaoro was arrested in 2017 for holding ceremonies in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Straight (LGBTS) Christian Church which he founded in the global financial hub in 2014. Charges were eventually dropped. The 62-year-old Filipino domestic helper, who moved to Hong Kong in 1981 and began living as a boy aged 12, filed a judicial review case with the High Court in May last year hoping to win the right to marry same-sex couples. In its ruling earlier this month, the High Court rejected his application based on the right to freedom of worship, ruling it did not have the power to free him from the threat of prosecution but added that Balaoro had done nothing illegal.