‘Upset with Lam’s lukewarm response’: 10,000 attend Pride Parade amid calls for Hong Kong laws to protect LGBT rights

Advocates urge city’s government to act on anti-discrimination ordinance

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Participants march from Causeway Bay to Central in the ninth annual Pride Parade in Hong Kong. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 7:00pm, 25 Nov 2017Updated: 5:14pm, 29 Jan 2018

Rainbow flags and blue balloons were part of the flamboyant displays on Hong Kong streets on Saturday as advocates and members of the LGBT community joined hands in the ninth annual Pride Parade, attended by 10,000 people, according to organisers.

The festivities were held against the backdrop of an ongoing public consultation over the legal recognition of transgender and intersex people.

Crowds clad in blue – the theme colour of the event – marched from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to Edinburgh Place in Central. Attendees included more than a dozen top diplomats, several Hong Kong legislators and the chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, Alfred Chan Cheung-ming.

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Chan said the public consultation on transgender recognition was a step in the right direction, but added that the government was “acting a bit slow”, and that it would be difficult to achieve equal rights for the LGBT community without official support.

The consultation, which will close on December 31, centres on the legal status of transgender and intersex people as no legislation in Hong Kong currently provides for amendments to one’s gender status in legal documents.

The parade was attended by some 10,000 people, according to organisers. Photo: Edward Wong

In response to the city’s recent successful bid to host the 2022 Gay Games, the largest LGBT sporting event in the world, Chan said: “The government has an ambiguous attitude – they are not showing support or opposition ... But it would be difficult for organisers to go ahead without official support such as in booking venues.”