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Lars Hamer

Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK is pulling the plug on the city’s first and only LGBTQ radio programme after 17 years, a move some in the community have called a step backward.
“We are going to experience a long winter for LGBTQ rights,” said Brian Leung Siu-fai, the long-time host of the late night show We Are Family, which aired from midnight to 2am every Sunday.
The broadcaster gave no reasons for ending its long run from Sunday, with a spokesman telling the Post it was cancelled because of “programming strategies”.
The move came as Hong Kong organisers were preparing to host the international Gay Games in the city from November 3 to 11.
‘A special perspective’: Hong Kong LGBTQ life coaches on their own journey
Veteran radio DJ Leung, 59, said axing the programme would make it harder for people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community to interact with people outside their circle, which was vital in the fight for equal rights.
“When people subscribe to or listen to LGBTQ content online, you are preaching to the choir,” he said. “But when you have a show on public radio, you are able to reach so many more people.”
Leung’s professional career was kick-started after he won a radio DJ contest on RTHK in 1987. He also worked at other stations in the 1990s and early 2000s, before becoming the host of We Are Family when it launched in 2006.
“No one was more surprised than me when RTHK asked me to host their new LGBTQ radio show in 2006. It was a very conservative platform,” he said.
Leung said he was always prepared for the show to be cancelled, more so in recent years, referring to Beijing’s tightened grip over Hong Kong since the imposition of the national security law in 2020. LGBTQ issues remain largely taboo in mainland China.

We Are Family covered everything from transgender rights to drag queens and stories from within the community, and won the Grand Prize in the Chinese Radio Category at the 2010 Annual Human Rights Press Awards in Hong Kong.
Guests on the show have included singer, songwriter and actor Anthony Wong Yiu-ming and Raymond Chan Chi-chuen, the first openly gay legislator in Hong Kong.
Leung recalled that the first show sparked a dozen letters of complaint from anti-LGBTQ individuals to the Broadcasting Authority, but aside from that, the programme rarely drew complaints or criticism.
Describing its impact over the years, he said: “When you walk around Hong Kong you will see gay couples holding hands. That never happened 17 years ago.”
RTHK refused to say if it would broadcast any other LGBTQ shows in the future. The spokesman said it would not comment on “internal editorial matters”.
Leung said he and his co-presenters would take a break before thinking about bringing back the programme online.
It is time for action to protect the rights of Hong Kong’s LGBTQ community
Human rights lawyer Peter Reading, who worked at the city’s Equal Opportunities Commission from 2012 to 2022 leading advocacy work for LGBTQ rights, said cancelling the radio show sent a bad message about support for the community.
“The whole idea of We Are Family was to raise awareness about diversity, inclusion and issues relating to LGBTQ people,” he said. “If you remove the voices doing that, there is a concern that things may go backwards.”
He said the show was also significant for helping LGBTQ people in Hong Kong to come to terms with their sexuality.
A 34-year-old flight attendant, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “I started listening to We Are Family as closeted gay kid. This show walked me through my teenage years, from a self-doubting child to a man who accepts himself.”
The Hongkonger said listening to the show taught him about gay culture, civil rights and the laws on same-sex marriage in different countries.


Bisexual television host, beauty blogger and model Susu Mak Wai-kei, 28, said she was 14 when she started listening to the show.
“This show helped me understand LGBTQ issues in Hong Kong, which can be difficult as we did not have much information about it in school and people did not talk about it very openly,” she said.
There have been signs of changing attitudes towards LGBTQ issues in the city.
In May, a Chinese University survey showed that 60 per cent of 1,551 Hong Kong people aged 18 and above said they supported same-sex marriage, while 17 per cent did not.
Most also felt that the city should have a law to protect against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
In 2017, only 50.4 per cent said yes to same-sex marriage.
Hong Kong’s LGBT community struggles for acceptance in sports, CUHK survey shows
The survey was conducted jointly by the university’s sexualities research programme, the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Law and the human rights law programme at the University of North Carolina School of Law in the United States.
They conducted earlier surveys in 2013 and 2017, making it the longest-running study of public opinion concerning same-sex marriage in Hong Kong.
The universities said the latest results showed that public opinion had changed markedly in the city.


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Hong Kong society

We Are Family no more: Hong Kong’s only LGBTQ radio show canned after 17 years, ‘a step backward for community’

Radio host and LGBTQ advocate Brian Leung predicts a “long winter” for the community after the demise of the RTHK show. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

We Are Family covered transgender rights, among other topics among the LGBTQ community. Photo: RTHK

Hong Kong is safe to visit, Gay Games team tells foreigners worrying about national security law

The Pride Parade is held in 2019. Some LGBTQ activists in Hong Kong have called for the Gay Games to be cancelled. Photo: Felix Wong

Gay Games ambassadors pose for a photo in March. The Hong Kong event was meant to be held last year, but was postponed because of the pandemic, and the targeted number of participants was lowered. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

The one-year countdown to the Gay Games is held in November. Among those attending were Hong Kong Gay Games co-chair Alan Lang (fourth from left), top adviser Regina Ip (centre) and Lan Kwai Fong Group chairman Allan Zeman (fourth from right). Photo: Jonathan Wong

‘I want to show the diversity within Hong Kong’s transgender community’: activist Henry Edward Tse in court battle for ID card gender change publishes book

Transgender activist Henry Edward Tse has published a booklet. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Henry Edward Tse, founder of Transgender Equality Hong Kong. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

 Henry Tse (centre) with Ryousuke Chau and Frances Suarez in Causeway Bay. Photo: Jonathan Wong

News

Hong Kong

Society

Host Brian Leung and others say show made a big impact on LGBTQ community by airing important issues
Public broadcaster RTHK pioneered groundbreaking show in 2006, but gives no reasons for cancellation


Host Brian Leung and others say show made a big impact on LGBTQ community by airing issues that mattered.


LGBTQ

LGBTQ in China

Hong Kong Gay Games 2023

We Are Family no more: Hong Kong’s only LGBTQ radio show canned after 17 years, ‘a step backward for community’

Host Brian Leung and others say show made a big impact on LGBTQ community by airing important issues Public broadcaster RTHK pioneered groundbreaking show in 2006, but gives no reasons for cancellation

Host Brian Leung and others say show made a big impact on LGBTQ community by airing important issues

Public broadcaster RTHK pioneered groundbreaking show in 2006, but gives no reasons for cancellation