Equal rights for sexual orientation in Hong Kong

A friend of mine initiated a petition for anti-discrimination legislation for sexual orientation in Hong Kong. Signaures were gathered and handed to the government in June this year. The court hearings took place in July. And in August, he won the case!

Below are extracts of his blog entries on the issue:

Interviews, Saturday, August 27, 2005

The last few days have been overwhelming with all the reports and attentions. Suddenly half or Hong Kong wanted to report my story. Already have had more than a handful of interviews the last few days, you can’t not be amazed by some of the questions they ask you… Here are a few good examples:

• Do you ever have to disguise your sexuality when you go for a job interview?
  
• Do you feel guilty or ashamed of your sexual orientation?
  
• Do you have a boyfriend? (“No.”) Then, will your male partner come to join the interview later?
  
• So, you said you have had been discriminated against for all these times and your rights of having a fulfilling relationship have been deprived. Have your then, since the declaration came out, exercised your new earned rights (i.e. engaged in any sexual activities)?
  
• You said you’ve always aware of your sexual orientation, have you ever had any girlfriends?

And these two are my personal favorites so far:

• How do you see yourself from any other normal people?
  
• Now, you have changed the laws, when will you consider turning straight again?

You’ve be surprised some of those tabloid questions actually came from papers like some commercial-business-related papers.... Read more

Categories: Asia, China, Discrimination, Hong-Kong, Human-Rights