Hong Kong – the fight against discrimination of LGBT people
Sunday, 8 November 2009.
Interview with Connie Chan of Women's Coalition and HK Pride
Vincent Kolo, chinaworker.info
With the successful staging of Hong Kong's second Pride parade on 1 November this event is now firmly established as a regular yearly highpoint. The march through central areas of Hong Kong Island was almost twice as big as last year's debut, attracting almost 2,000 participants. Connie Chan, who is chairperson of the Women's Council of Hong Kong and Chief Director of Hong Kong Pride Parade Committee 2009, spoke to chinaworker.info about the struggle for gay rights in this ‘special autonomous region' of China, where homophobia is still a big problem and the legal standing of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people lags some way behind their position in other advanced capitalist countries.
"There is still no discrimination law in Hong Kong, to protect people in fields such as employment on the basis of their sexual orientation," says Connie Chan when I met her at the office of Rainbow, a collective for young gay men. The office is a hive of activity in the days just before Pride. "This [anti-discrimination law] is something we have wanted for 20 years," she adds. Hong Kong's current legislation does not cover discrimination beyond government authorities, in areas such as employment or the provision of goods and services.
"There is also a lot of talk about same-sex marriage, which is a hot issue all over the world," Connie explains, pointing out that among Hong Kong's LGBT activists there are differing views on the subject, with some opposing marriage or - like herself - advocating the right to civil partnership for gays and lesbians.
The LGBT movement in Hong Kong clearly has a sense of urgency in a society where homophobia is still a massive problem. "We don't have gay-bashing in Hong Kong, but homophobia is still horrific," she says, pointing to the powerful influence exercised by the Christian Right in society. Half of Hong Kong's secondary schools are connected to Christian denominations, as are around half of social services entities such as youth and elderly care centres, marriage guidance counselling and crisis centres. This dependence on religious organisations is in itself is a sign of Hong Kong's chronically under-dimensioned welfare system under its "small government, big market" state philosophy.
The Women's Coalition conducted its own survey of lesbian and bisexual women students in Hong Kong's schools and found that 39% suffer discrimination or harassment on the basis of their sexual orientation. There is no 'safe school project' covering the needs of lesbian and gay pupils in Hong Kong, which is something the Women's Coalition are pressing for.
Right-wing religious groups in Hong Kong have been vocal campaigning against LGBT rights in a variety of ways. In 2003, the Catholic Church of Hong Kong released an article attacking same-sex marriage. In 2005, the Christian Right Movement financed four-page newspaper advertisements attacking sexual orientation legislation. In June 2009, when the government, to the chagrin of these groups, revised the Domestic Violence Ordinance to include violence among same-sex common law couples under its protection. These right-wingers protested that such legal recognition conferred "family" status on same-sex relationships and claimed this was tantamount to "promoting HIV/AIDS". The pressure from this quarter has been a major factor holding back Hong Kong's adoption of an anti-discrimination law offering protection to people on grounds of their sexual orientation.
In response, the LGBT movement in Hong Kong began mobilising for IDAHO day (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) already in 2005. The first such event drew 300 supporters and it has grown since then, with the 2008 and 2009 Pride parades largely developing out of this movement. Hong Kong's LGBT activists have a sense they are waging a pioneer struggle not just within the territory but throughout China. It was noticeable that mainland Chinese from seven or eight cities took part in this year's Pride parade. "We are really surprised that so many mainland people come to HK Pride," says Connie Chan. "But then Hong Kong is the only city in China we can stage a public event."
Earlier this year, mainland China saw its first ever Gay Pride staged in Shanghai. But as Connie explains this was solely an indoor event, which somewhat defeats its purpose - to reach out, challenge, and build self-esteem. Under orders from China's one-party state, which fears every form of independent organisation or street gathering, the Shanghai Pride organisers were refused permission to stage a parade. The indoor and commercial aspects of the event were permitted however.
The still vastly unequal legal standing of homosexuals and lesbians in Hong Kong is also a reflection on the far from ‘enlightened' colonial rule exercised by Britain until the 1997 handover. Under the British administration, homosexual intercourse was not decriminalised until 1991, a quarter of a century after a similar change took effect in Britain. Prior to this, male homosexual intercourse was illegal in Hong Kong with the maximum sentence being life imprisonment. Even today on the statute books the age of consent is discriminatory for sex between men, at 21 years, compared to 16 for heterosexual and lesbian sex. But an important court case in 2005 partially overturned this discriminatory law in practise, leaving the age of consent in something of a grey area.
"We are still campaigning on this question, and the government do not want to change the law [despite the 2005 decision]. But we have asked the police and they tell us ‘no', they won't arrest anyone under 21 on these grounds," explains Connie Chan.
Perhaps the growth of Pride in Taiwan is a sign of things to come in Hong Kong. In Taipei on Saturday 31 October (one day before HK Pride), 25,000 took part in East Asia's biggest Pride parade. The first Taiwan Pride was staged as recently as 2003, with just 500 participants on that occasion.
Two big differences in Hong Kong, compared to Pride in many other countries, was the refreshing absence of commercialism on one hand, and the barely disguised hostility of the political establishment towards this event on the other.
While many establishment parties in Europe and the U.S. flirt with gay rights in order to fish for votes, but also in an attempt to depoliticise and tame the LGBT movement, by shifting it away from street protest and struggle. Something similar has not yet happened in Hong Kong, where the political establishment shuns Pride and LGBT activism, partly because the unelected government of Donald Tsang has no need to win the gay vote - it doesn't rely on popular suffrage!
In many other countries, Pride has secured some big corporate sponsors, whose commitment to the struggle against oppression is highly questionable to say the least. Their ‘support' for such events is rather a case of chasing the ‘pink dollar' and seeing a lucrative bandwagon to jump upon. This has led to criticism in recent years especially from working class and low-paid LGBT people about a commercial takeover of Pride in cities such as Berlin, London and Stockholm, with expensive entrance fees to Pride events and a blunting of the political edge needed to advance the LGBT struggle.
In Hong Kong, however, the corporate world is far less keen to be linked to a "seditious" cause, and especially wary of incurring the wrath of the religious political lobby. Last year, Citybus of Hong Kong refused to hire a double-decker bus to Pride, expressing concerns about the company's "image". The company's stance would be illegal if, as campaigners want, an all-inclusive anti-discrimination law is introduced.
Vincent Kolo, chinaworker.info
With the successful staging of Hong Kong's second Pride parade on 1 November this event is now firmly established as a regular yearly highpoint. The march through central areas of Hong Kong Island was almost twice as big as last year's debut, attracting almost 2,000 participants. Connie Chan, who is chairperson of the Women's Council of Hong Kong and Chief Director of Hong Kong Pride Parade Committee 2009, spoke to chinaworker.info about the struggle for gay rights in this ‘special autonomous region' of China, where homophobia is still a big problem and the legal standing of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people lags some way behind their position in other advanced capitalist countries.
"There is still no discrimination law in Hong Kong, to protect people in fields such as employment on the basis of their sexual orientation," says Connie Chan when I met her at the office of Rainbow, a collective for young gay men. The office is a hive of activity in the days just before Pride. "This [anti-discrimination law] is something we have wanted for 20 years," she adds. Hong Kong's current legislation does not cover discrimination beyond government authorities, in areas such as employment or the provision of goods and services.
"There is also a lot of talk about same-sex marriage, which is a hot issue all over the world," Connie explains, pointing out that among Hong Kong's LGBT activists there are differing views on the subject, with some opposing marriage or - like herself - advocating the right to civil partnership for gays and lesbians.
The LGBT movement in Hong Kong clearly has a sense of urgency in a society where homophobia is still a massive problem. "We don't have gay-bashing in Hong Kong, but homophobia is still horrific," she says, pointing to the powerful influence exercised by the Christian Right in society. Half of Hong Kong's secondary schools are connected to Christian denominations, as are around half of social services entities such as youth and elderly care centres, marriage guidance counselling and crisis centres. This dependence on religious organisations is in itself is a sign of Hong Kong's chronically under-dimensioned welfare system under its "small government, big market" state philosophy.
The Women's Coalition conducted its own survey of lesbian and bisexual women students in Hong Kong's schools and found that 39% suffer discrimination or harassment on the basis of their sexual orientation. There is no 'safe school project' covering the needs of lesbian and gay pupils in Hong Kong, which is something the Women's Coalition are pressing for.
Right-wing religious groups in Hong Kong have been vocal campaigning against LGBT rights in a variety of ways. In 2003, the Catholic Church of Hong Kong released an article attacking same-sex marriage. In 2005, the Christian Right Movement financed four-page newspaper advertisements attacking sexual orientation legislation. In June 2009, when the government, to the chagrin of these groups, revised the Domestic Violence Ordinance to include violence among same-sex common law couples under its protection. These right-wingers protested that such legal recognition conferred "family" status on same-sex relationships and claimed this was tantamount to "promoting HIV/AIDS". The pressure from this quarter has been a major factor holding back Hong Kong's adoption of an anti-discrimination law offering protection to people on grounds of their sexual orientation.
In response, the LGBT movement in Hong Kong began mobilising for IDAHO day (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) already in 2005. The first such event drew 300 supporters and it has grown since then, with the 2008 and 2009 Pride parades largely developing out of this movement. Hong Kong's LGBT activists have a sense they are waging a pioneer struggle not just within the territory but throughout China. It was noticeable that mainland Chinese from seven or eight cities took part in this year's Pride parade. "We are really surprised that so many mainland people come to HK Pride," says Connie Chan. "But then Hong Kong is the only city in China we can stage a public event."
Earlier this year, mainland China saw its first ever Gay Pride staged in Shanghai. But as Connie explains this was solely an indoor event, which somewhat defeats its purpose - to reach out, challenge, and build self-esteem. Under orders from China's one-party state, which fears every form of independent organisation or street gathering, the Shanghai Pride organisers were refused permission to stage a parade. The indoor and commercial aspects of the event were permitted however.
The still vastly unequal legal standing of homosexuals and lesbians in Hong Kong is also a reflection on the far from ‘enlightened' colonial rule exercised by Britain until the 1997 handover. Under the British administration, homosexual intercourse was not decriminalised until 1991, a quarter of a century after a similar change took effect in Britain. Prior to this, male homosexual intercourse was illegal in Hong Kong with the maximum sentence being life imprisonment. Even today on the statute books the age of consent is discriminatory for sex between men, at 21 years, compared to 16 for heterosexual and lesbian sex. But an important court case in 2005 partially overturned this discriminatory law in practise, leaving the age of consent in something of a grey area.
"We are still campaigning on this question, and the government do not want to change the law [despite the 2005 decision]. But we have asked the police and they tell us ‘no', they won't arrest anyone under 21 on these grounds," explains Connie Chan.
Perhaps the growth of Pride in Taiwan is a sign of things to come in Hong Kong. In Taipei on Saturday 31 October (one day before HK Pride), 25,000 took part in East Asia's biggest Pride parade. The first Taiwan Pride was staged as recently as 2003, with just 500 participants on that occasion.
Two big differences in Hong Kong, compared to Pride in many other countries, was the refreshing absence of commercialism on one hand, and the barely disguised hostility of the political establishment towards this event on the other.
While many establishment parties in Europe and the U.S. flirt with gay rights in order to fish for votes, but also in an attempt to depoliticise and tame the LGBT movement, by shifting it away from street protest and struggle. Something similar has not yet happened in Hong Kong, where the political establishment shuns Pride and LGBT activism, partly because the unelected government of Donald Tsang has no need to win the gay vote - it doesn't rely on popular suffrage!
In many other countries, Pride has secured some big corporate sponsors, whose commitment to the struggle against oppression is highly questionable to say the least. Their ‘support' for such events is rather a case of chasing the ‘pink dollar' and seeing a lucrative bandwagon to jump upon. This has led to criticism in recent years especially from working class and low-paid LGBT people about a commercial takeover of Pride in cities such as Berlin, London and Stockholm, with expensive entrance fees to Pride events and a blunting of the political edge needed to advance the LGBT struggle.
In Hong Kong, however, the corporate world is far less keen to be linked to a "seditious" cause, and especially wary of incurring the wrath of the religious political lobby. Last year, Citybus of Hong Kong refused to hire a double-decker bus to Pride, expressing concerns about the company's "image". The company's stance would be illegal if, as campaigners want, an all-inclusive anti-discrimination law is introduced.
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