19-05-2025
IDAHOBIT: Amid waning room for advocacy, Hong Kong LGBTQ groups cherish rare chance to raise awareness
Parts of Causeway Bay were transformed into a sea of rainbows on Saturday as the city's LGBTQ community marked the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).
Organised by NGO Gay Harmony, the event featured eight other groups, including an LGBTQ-friendly church and a small media outlet that focuses on reporting LGBTQ-related issues.
The groups took turns giving short speeches outside the Sogo department store, while volunteers distributed flyers to passersby, from young couples to families with kids.
Around the corner, at a booth run by NGO Pride Lab, passersby were asked to rate on a scale of one to six how LGBTQ-friendly their environment is.
Metres away, people responded to a prompt set by Quarks, an NGO supporting transgender rights, asking how they took care of themselves when facing discrimination. They wrote their responses on Post-It notes clipped onto a board at the booth.
'Music. Make meals. See friends,' one note read.
Another note said: 'Trans rights are human rights. One day we shall prevail.'
Rarity in today's Hong Kong
Events like Saturday's IDAHOBIT activities have become increasingly rare in Hong Kong, where space for advocacy has narrowed in recent years. Since the protests and unrest in 2019, followed by the Beijing-imposed national security law, dozens of civil society groups have shut down under pressure.
While LGBTQ groups have not been specifically targeted, activists say it has become harder to host large-scale events.
Gay Harmony founder Francis Tang said groups have had to change their methods of outreach in recent years. The last year the city saw a pride parade – which Tang also organised – was in 2018, and the group behind it now holds indoor bazaars to mark the date instead.
'We're not able to make as much noise anymore,' he said in Cantonese.
One of the aims of LGBTQ events is to raise public awareness about sexual and gender diversity, Tang said. However, he acknowledged, 'There is a big difference in the number of people we are able to reach nowadays.'
Gay Harmony organises activities to mark IDAHOBIT every year, but they scaled down the event in 2020. This year was the first time they invited other groups to take part.
'So far so good,' he said, adding that the process of receiving approval from government departments to host the public event was smooth. 'There have been no complaints, and the feedback seems good. We hope we can do this again.'
Whilst same-sex sexual activity was legalised in 1991, Hong Kong has no laws to protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination in employment, the provision of goods and services, or from hate speech.
Same-sex marriage is not legally recognised, although a 2023 survey showed that 60 per cent of Hongkongers support it. Despite repeated government appeals, courts have granted same-sex couples who married – or who entered civil partnerships – abroad some recognition in terms of tax, spousal visas, and public housing.
Visibility matters
With AI-generated images of Jesus delivering marriage vows to Chinese-looking gay couples, the booth run by the LGBTQ-friendly Blessed Ministry Community Church (BMCC) was perhaps the most eye-catching one on Great George Street.
Volunteers chatted up passersby, bringing them to their booth and walking them through an activity about the relationship between Christianity and gender and sexual identity.
The activity involved asking whether they had any LGBTQ+ friends, and if they believed those who identified as LGBTQ+ deserved to be blessed by the church when they found love.
Jensen Yiu, head of social ministry at BMCC, said the event was a good opportunity for LGBTQ groups to gain visibility and interact with a larger cross-section of the public.
He said there was value in running booths on the streets and passing out flyers to passersby – something they would not be able to do during enclosed events like Pink Dot.
'People who go to those kinds of events are probably already pro-LGBTQ,' he said in Cantonese. 'But on the streets, we have different people and some tourists come over.'
Breaking taboos
Fran and Gu – who declined to give their full names – had just finished some shopping at Muji nearby when the booths lining the street caught their eye.
They said they did not know this event was happening but wanted to check it out.
Both said they were straight, but that they followed news about LGBTQ rights in Hong Kong. They also said they had friends who were gay or lesbian and whose families were not supportive when they came out.
Fran said he thought events like this could dispel preconceived notions about the LGBTQ community and normalise different types of sexual and gender identities.
'People may find that what it means to be LGBTQ is different from what they thought,' he said in Cantonese. 'That can increase public acceptance and make these topics less taboo, removing their labels.'
Gu said she was aware that Pride Month was coming up in June, but did not have plans to go to any activities.
'But I would stop by if I saw them,' Gu added.
Volunteering with Pride Lab on Saturday was social worker Jacinta Yu, who was wearing rainbow earrings and a T-shirt that read in Chinese, ''No offence' is not an excuse.'
Yu said she treasured the chance to talk to people and educate them on LGBTQ topics.
'Some passersby said they don't think homosexuality is right. I respect that they have different views,' Yu said. 'But I hope everyone respects each other and does not discriminate.'
This year's IDAHOBIT comes ahead of the government's October deadline to enact a framework to recognise same-sex partnerships, according to a landmark Court of Final Appeal verdict in September 2023.
Tang, of Gay Harmony, said he was not aware of the government holding any consultations to gather public opinion. He said the group had written a paper suggesting what a framework could look like, but had no channels to submit it to the authorities.
'Lobbying has become harder now,' he said.
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