Hong Kong: Gay Rights on the Horizon?

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. Full Story from China Worker: http://chinaworker.info/en/content/news/890/

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