Opinion | Pushing forward the fight for LGBT equality in Hong Kong

LGBT minorities must create their own movement in the city, where conservative opposition is strong

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LGBT supporters in Hong Kong celebrate Taiwan’s vote to legalise same-sex marriage. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 5:44pm, 1 Jun 2019Updated: 8:54pm, 1 Jun 2019

Taiwan’s legalisation of same-sex marriage has been celebrated as progress towards a more liberal society and a model for the rest of Asia to follow.

While legalisation is certainly a huge step in these respects, we can’t rest on our laurels. Legalisation was never truly the end goal: egalitarianism is. Just as it was with the fight for social justice by black people in America and by almost every other minority in history, the goal of LGBT activism is not just policies that honour rights, but the cultural shifts in values behind them. Until the day LGBT stops being stigmatised and becomes an accepted way of life – until “coming out” is no longer YouTube-worthy – the work remains unfinished.

We must therefore ask: what’s next for LGBT rights in Taiwan? Just as important, what lessons can we integrate into Hong Kong’s next steps?

In Taiwan, the fight is far from over. My research shows that LGBT people continue to face discrimination in the workplace and among friends and family. Same-sex marriage legalisation was an important step to expanding the rights of LGBT minorities, but it also invoked fierce resistance from church groups backed by foreign and even Hong Kong conservatives. Their popularised depiction of LGBT rights as an attack on the rights of everyone else has tempered prejudice into a stronger blade. The risk of being ostracised looms large and LGBT minorities are pushed further into the closet. This is reflected in greater strains on mental health, which explains why disorders like depression, anxiety and suicide ideation remain disproportionately high among LGBT minorities.

We in Hong Kong and Taiwan must continue to invest resources in mental health, social support and counselling services for LGBT minorities. Politically, LGBT minorities must also strengthen their efforts.

LGBT mobilisation in Taiwan succeeded by having LGBT rights built into a civic nationalism that has been continually promoted by electoral reform in 2008, by the Sunflower Movement in 2014 and by the Democratic Progressive Party’s electoral victory in 2016.