Hong Kong’s LGBT community struggles for acceptance in sports and fitness industries, Chinese University survey shows
- The survey found 30 per cent of respondents had been bullied during PE classes, while 29 per cent actively avoided sport during their time at school
- ‘Everyone should have the right to sports participation, health and well-being, including LGBTQ people,’ professor Suen Yiu-tung says
Less than a year before Hong Kong co-hosts the Gay Games, a new survey has revealed the extent to which members of the LGBTQ community in the city say they have struggled to be accepted by the sports and fitness industries.
Conducted by Chinese University’s sexualities research programme, researchers said it was the most comprehensive study ever of Hong Kong’s sexual minorities.
Among the findings, nearly 50 per cent of those asked said homophobia in the city’s sports teams and associations was “common or very common”, while 25 per cent experienced bullying because of their sexuality.
The survey also found that 30 per cent of the 884 respondents said they had been bullied during PE classes, while nearly 29 per cent actively avoided sport during their time at school.
Professor Suen Yiu-tung, the programme’s founding director at CUHK, said the study was the first to provide “empirical evidence” to support the claims by LGBTQ members they “often feel unsafe or are actively excluded in sports settings”.
“There has been much debate in Hong Kong about the city hosting the Gay Games in 2023, the first time the event will be held in Asia,” Suen said.
