HONG KONG, Aug.25(AP) -- A legal victory won by William Roy Leung, a 20-year-old gay man challenging laws against homosexuality, received mixed responses in newspaper editorials Thursday, with several warning that civil society must strike a balance between protecting minority groups and conservative religious voices.

The front pages of several papers featured Wednesday's High Court judgment against gay sex laws - including one that calls for a life sentence for sodomy when one or both men are younger than 21. The judge said the laws were discriminatory and unconstitutional.