Hong Kong Pride Parade was streamed online on Saturday after the police issued a Letter of Objection to their application to hold a physical rally.
Themed “Here and Proud,” the event featured performances as well as sharing sessions from different groups.
Cantopop singer Terence Siufay – who came out as gay this year – and pro-democracy activist Figo Chan were sworn in as this year’s Rainbow Ambassadors. They vowed to promote LGBT+ equality, especially with regards to legislating against discrimination.
“[Equal marriage and equal rights] are very fundamental, but for some reason we have failed fighting for these rights in judicial reviews and other situations. I hope that we can create a movement in the future and fight for gender equality and more freedom,” said Chan.
HKFP is a media sponsor for Hong Kong Pride.
Steps forward
Hong Kong currently does not recognise same-sex marriage or civil unions, and has yet to legislate against sexual orientation discrimination. However, the LGBT+ community have been seeing important victories through legal challenges.
The city’s most recent progress came from the High Court’s ruling that same-sex couples should enjoy the same rights under Hong Kong’s inheritance law as opposite-sex couples in September. The Immigration Department has also been forced to recognise same-sex couples who married abroad.
This year’s Pride Parade was supported by 17 out of 18 district councils, according to the organisers. The event declaration highlighted the progress district counsellors have made on LGBT+ issues since their election in November last year.
“We express our heartfelt gratitude to the newly elected district counsellors for actively involving in the advancement of LGBT welfare on the district level, looking into measures and issues such as gender-friendly facilities and LGBT books. This is a clear demonstration that the issue of LGBT equality has indeed bloomed and grown on a district level.”
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