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From: Felix of Southeast Asia
To: Stephen Parelli <sparelli2002@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thu, November 5, 2009 10:25:05 AM
Subject: Hong Kong pride parade 2009

Steve,
I hope you can open the word file report on the parade...gotta run.
Felix
Photos Below:
Hong Kong's Second Annual Pride Parade,
November 1, 2009.
Courtesy of Felix of Southeast Asia
Hong Kong Pride Parade 2009
By Felix of Southeast Asia
The Blessed Minority group,
HK's only gay church.
From: Felix of Southeast Asia
To: Stephen Parelli <sparelli2002@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tue, November 10, 2009 3:51:11 AM
Subject: Hong Kong Pride Parade shorter article (for
news release)

Hong Kong Pride Parade 2009
Reported by  Felix of Southeast Asia

Hong Kong has just had its second annual pride parade on November 1, 2009,
just a day after the Taipei pride march that recorded the largest number of
marchers ever in the history of Asia’s pride parade in which 25,000 people
turned out to show their pride and solidarity. It was the first pride march for me
and my partner.

The parade themed “Be Proud! Be Yourself!” received wide publicity around the
world. Even if nothing had changed in terms of public policy, at the very least,
the parade achieved the objective of coming out loud and proud to the world in
greater visibility. The aim of the parade was to raise awareness and promote
understanding of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered persons besides
bolstering the courage and confidence of the LGBTQ communities themselves.

Hong Kong’s second pride parade recorded a total of 1800 participants, nearly
doubled the number of marchers last year, thanks to parade director Connie
Chan and her dedicated team of committee including members from the Women’
s Coalition of Hong Kong, Rainbow of Hong Kong, Midnight Blue, and Gay
Harmony (counseling hotline).

This year, renowned Hong Kong film director Ann Hui was conferred the title of
the first Rainbow Ambassador. Ann has pledged to lobby for equal rights for the
LGBTQ community in Hong Kong.

Parade participants gathered at the Southorn Playground in Wan Chai at 2:30
pm as they prepared for the hour-long march. LGBTQ groups from Hong Kong,
mainland China, Taiwan, gay and straight citizens of Hong Kong, foreign expats
and tourists from around the world turned out at Hong Kong’s largest street
party. A giant pink ball was bounced up and down over the crowd, and a rainbow
shower launched. About 20 volunteers held a giant rainbow flag and participants
went under it to get the “rainbow shower.” With the giant flag leading the way,
the parade kicked off into Hennessy Road as the public looked on. Some
cheered as marchers sang, danced to the music and chanted slogans in their
pink costumes holding rainbow flags, placards, and colorful banners along the
route to Chater Garden in Central.

Besides those mentioned earlier, LGBTQ organizations in Hong Kong that
participated had included LGBTQ Christian Student Movement, Blessed Minority
Christian Fellowship, Elements LGBTQ Teens Club (a voluntary organization
reaching out to queer teens through social activities, peer counseling, parental
support, school talks, & HIV testing), and Civil Rights for Sexual Diversities
among others.

China’s contingents included LGBT groups from Beijing , Tianjin, Shenzhen,
Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shandong, Shanghai and Guizhou among others.
Taiwan was represented by InterPride (International Association of Pride
organizers) and Taipei’s Gingin bookstore.

International groups that participated had included the Interbank LGBT
Exchange represented by 13 international banks including Bank of America
Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and UBS, as well as Amnesty
International. Teenage boys and girls with painted faces held up placards while
chanting human rights slogans.

Blessed Minority Christian Fellowship, Hong Kong’s only non-denominational
Christian community, marched for the second year. BMCF has been reaching
out to those most marginalized by church and society since 1992. About a dozen
LGBT members of BMCF turned out to march, holding a rainbow flag with the
words “God Loves the Queer Too” pasted across it. Pastor Wong, a straight ally
working with BMCF, also joined in the march. BMCF members handed out
brochures stating their beliefs that homosexuality is not a sin and that it is
possible for homosexuals to truly be Christians. The church has a good number
of straight allies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Divinity School of
Chung Chi College.

At the closing program in Chater Garden, parade participants were treated to a
feast of popular songs and dance performed by local queer and straight
artistes.   The Chater Together After Pride Parade Show was hosted by openly
gay radio DJ Brian Leung of RTHK2’s “We are family” gay radio program which
broadcast weekly. Several members of Hong Kong’s first gay soccer team One
Nil were interviewed on stage. At the end of the show, Brian led the audience in
joining hands and raising them high while chanting the slogan “Gay and straight
living in harmony, equality and mutual respect” showing that “we are a family”
regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Hong Kong’s premier English paper the South China Morning Post published a
positive report on Monday titled “Members of the gay and lesbian community
turn out to paint the town pink with pride.” Parade director Connie Chan was
quoted as saying, “Many Hong Kong people still see same-sex partners as
queer or something that they should stay away from. We hope to make the
parade more like a carnival rather than a protest demanding this or that from the
government. We hope people see us as a happy community.”

Following the successful campaign this year to have same-sex couples covered
under the Domestic Violence Ordinance, the next item on the agenda of Hong
Kong’s LGBTQ activists is to have sexual orientation covered under Hong Kong’
s anti-discrimination law. The greatest resistance has been coming from right-
wing Christian groups. So there is still much work to be done.

The long term goal of the LGBTQ movement can best be summed up in the
objective of the World Chinese Tongzhi (LGBTQ) Conference held in Hong
Kong in 1999, which states in part: “Let everyone be a healthy person under the
sun… Let there be no discrimination, fear or hatred on account of race, culture,
age, gender, sexual orientation, class, language or any other difference among
people. Let us accept, respect and appreciate each other’s differences, and
learn from those differences until the polarization between homosexuality and
heterosexuality is broken down, and a truly harmonious society is born.”
This webpage was built the week of January 3, 2010, in
the Bronx, NY, and was published January 8, 2010.

Visitors to this page since January 8, 2010.
This is an
Other Sheep
webpage
Counter
Hong Kong Pride Parade 2009
By Felix of Southeast Asia

Hong Kong has just had its second annual pride parade on
November 1, 2009, just a day after the Taipei pride march that
recorded the largest number of marchers ever in the history of Asia’
s pride parade in which 25,000 people turned out to show their pride
and solidarity. Just in case some marchers were not ready to show
their face to the world, the organizers had prepared party masks.

The parade themed “Be Proud! Be Yourself!” received wide publicity
with the presence of media personnel from around the world. Fridae.
com was the official online media and Hong Kong’s 852
Community broadcast the event live on its website (https://www.
communitytv.hk). Other media partners include DS Magazine,
Gayhk.com, GayStation.com.hk, Lezbica, Blur-F.com,
Member2.com, Gaychannel.hk, and GMALEHK (all same-sex
social networks). Even if nothing had changed in terms of
public policy, at the very least, the parade achieved the
objective of coming out loud and proud to the world in greater
visibility. The aim of the parade was to raise awareness and
promote understanding of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and
transgendered persons besides boosting the courage and
confidence of the LGBT communities themselves.

Hong Kong’s second pride parade recorded a total of 1800
participants, nearly doubled the number of marchers in the first
parade last year which attracted 1000 people. This was a huge
success considering a part of Hong Kong’s LGBTQ
community, as well as that of other Asian countries, was in
Taiwan at the same weekend.
Credit for Hong Kong’s pride success was due to parade
director Connie Chan and her dedicated team of committee
including members from the Women’s Coalition of Hong Kong
(a lesbian activist group), Rainbow of Hong Kong (LGBTQ
community resource center), Nutong Xueshe (a lesbian study
group), Midnight Blue (a male sex worker support network),
and Gay Harmony (hotline). Of course, appreciation also went
to the sponsors including Diagnostic Bio (that does HIV
testing), Temptation lesbian bar, Le Male gay accessories
shop, DYMK (Does Your Mother Know) gay club, Towel Club
sauna, Gay Video magazine, The Karaoke & Bar among
others. Special thanks went to Horizons (queer counseling and
hotline), Virus lesbian network, and the Equal Opportunities
Commission which helped to spread the word through its
network. Without the effort of these NGOs and more than 110
young volunteers, as well as the donations of supporters, the
event would not have been a record-breaking success.  

This year, renowned Hong Kong film director Ann Hui was
conferred the title of the first Rainbow Ambassador. Three
weeks ahead of the parade, she showed up in a video that
was screened in a press conference and the official parade
website calling for everyone regardless of sexual orientation
and gender identity to support Hong Kong Pride Parade 2009.
As the Rainbow Ambassador, Ann has pledged to lobby for
equal rights for the LGBTQ community in Hong Kong in the
spirit of the rainbow.

Hong Kong’s top officials including Chief Executive Donald
Tsang, Secretary for Home Affairs and Secretary for
Constitutional and Mainland Affairs had unfortunately turned
down invitations to attend. This apparent indifference reflects
the government’s concern for political correctness more than
the welfare of their own LGBTQ citizens. The government may
respect human rights and freedom of speech and expression,
but current public policy does not address LGBTQ issues in
any way, let alone public funding, a far cry from what a
cosmopolitan city like Hong Kong should behave.
Nevertheless, the League of Social Democrats legislator
Wong Yuk-man attended the parade to show his support for
equal rights. Dozens, if not hundreds, of police personnel were
on duty to direct traffic flow, maintain public order and escort
parade participants all the way. No untoward incident was
reported.

At the 2:30pm opening ceremony at the Southorn Playground
in Wan Chai, two young, animated and eloquent MCs were
perched on a high platform that had been wrapped in rainbow
colors in the middle of the basketball court. They co-hosted the
briefing and the opening of the parade in Cantonese, Mandarin
and English. Booths were set up at one corner registering
participants and selling parade souvenirs including two
designs of T-shirts (white and pink respectively), mini rainbow
flags, rainbow flag pins, etc. Free packages of parade posters,
stickers, information and promotion brochures of various LGBT
organizations in HK, business cards of selected gay
businesses, condoms and lubes from AIDS Concern and Gay
Harmony supported by HK AIDS Foundation and Abbott,
details of after parade parties (one for gays, one for lesbians),
booklet of the HK Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (Nov 20-Dec 1),
gift vouchers from two gay bars, etc were handed out.

On the concrete playground, parade participants bathed in the
hot afternoon sun as they prepared for the hour-long march
along Hennessy Road from Wan Chai to the Chater Garden in
Central. Groups representing various LGBTQ organizations
from Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, foreign expats and
tourists from around the world turned out to show their pride
and solidarity to Hong Kong’s largest street party. A giant pink
ball was pushed up into the air over the crowd, from one end of
the playground to the other. As the parade kicked into high
gear, a rainbow shower was launched. About 20 volunteers
held a giant rainbow flag and participants could go under it to
get a taste of the “rainbow shower.” With the giant flag leading
the way, the parade kicked off into Hennessy Road as the
public looked on silently. The left lane of the road was closed to
vehicles and police personnel were stationed along the parade
route. Passersby watched (some cheered) and cars honked
as marchers sang, danced to music and chanted slogans in
their pink costumes holding rainbow flags, placards, and
colorful banners along the route to Central.

LGBTQ organizations in Hong Kong that participated had
included the Women’s Coalition, Nutong Xueshe
(LesLoveStudy), Rainbow of Hong Kong, Gay Harmony,
Midnight Blue (male sex worker network), Tongzhi Community
Joint Meeting (TCJM – an LGBTQ resource network), Horizons
(counseling hotline), LGBTQ Christian Student Movement,
Blessed Minority Christian Fellowship, GaySpot (magazine),
Transgender Resource Center, Elements LGBTQ Teens Club
(a voluntary organization reaching out to queer teens through
social activities, peer counseling, parental support, school
talks, HIV testing ,etc), Chi Heng Foundation, Civil Rights for
Sexual Diversities, etc.
From mainland China, representatives of various LGBTQ
organizations marched, including Beijing LGBT Culture and
Activity Center, Queer Tianjin, Shenzhen 258 Rainbow
Taskforce, PFLAG China, Husband & Husband Network,
Guangzhou Associated Gay/Les Campus + Rainbow Student
Group, Sunshine Gay Chinese Network, Chengdu Aibai
Culture and Education Center, Shenzhen Blue Ribbon Gay
Tour Network, Rainbow China, Rainbow Shandong, LGBT
groups from Shanghai and Guizhou among others. Taiwan was
represented by InterPride and Taipei’s Gingin bookstore.

International groups that participated had included the
Interbank LGBT Exchange and Amnesty International. The
Interbank contingent’s banner read “Walking with Pride” which
featured the logos of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman
Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and UBS. The Interbank group was said
to comprise representatives from 13 banks including Citibank,
Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Morgan Stanley,
Nomura, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered and
Wachovia. Bubbling foreign teenage boys and girls, faces
painted with rainbow flags, wearing Amnesty T-shirts with the
slogan “Love is a human right,” held up hand-painted placards
that read “Love is never wrong,” “Why Categorize? Just Love,”
“We believe in Human Rights,””Gay Pride,” “Love has no
gender,” “Homophobia=Apartheid,” and “Smile if you’re gay”
among others, chanting human rights slogans excitedly.

Blessed Minority Christian Fellowship, Hong Kong’s only non-
denominational Christian community, marched for the second
year. BMCF has been reaching out to those most marginalized
by church and society since 1992. Out of a membership of 80,
only about a dozen gay, lesbian and transvestite members of
BMCF turned out to march. A group of them had gone to
Taipei and the rest were either closeted or had to attend the
Sunday service held at 4pm. Anthony Man, spokesperson for
BMCF, led the group holding a rainbow flag with the words
“God Loves the Queer Too” pasted across it. One brother
started to chant “Christ Loves the Queer” and others echoed.
Pastor Wong, a straight ally working with BMCF, also joined in
the march. BMCF members handed out bilingual information
brochures titled Is there such a thing as “Christian
Homosexuals?” stating their beliefs that homosexuality is not a
sin and that it is possible for homosexuals to truly be
Christians. The brochure features a brief introduction to BMCF,
activities schedule, contact details and Friday evening peer
counseling helpline number. Anthony, well known in Hong Kong’
s LGBTQ circles, was interviewed at least twice before and
during the parade. BMCF has a good number of straight allies
who are theologians at Sung Kei Seminary Hong Kong, but
were unprepared to show their face at the parade.

The parade took place between 3:15pm and 4:15pm. At the
closing program in Chater Garden, parade participants stood
around a stage where announcements were made and
fabulous performances staged. Rainbow ambassador Ann Hui
came on stage to pledge her support for LGBTQ equal rights.
Director Connie Chan announced the number of participants
for the day and thanked everyone for their support. A musical
band played, and a lesbian group Les Dance put on some
brilliant dance choreography. The Chater Together After Pride
Parade Show was hosted by openly gay radio DJ Brian Leung
of RTHK2’s “We are family” LGBTQ radio program which
broadcast weekly on Saturdays from midnight to 2 am. The
audience was treated to a feast of popular songs and dance
performed by local queer and straight artistes and celebrities.
Three members of Hong Kong’s first gay soccer team One Nil
were interviewed on stage. At the end of the show, Brian led
the audience in joining hands and raising them high while
chanting the slogan “Gay and straight living in harmony,
equality and mutual respect!” This was to show that “we are a
family” regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The event came to a close at 6pm as the sun was setting over
the Victoria harbor. As for the masks, well, they went to the bin
as no one really needed them.

RTHK Radio 2 (Cantonese) reported the event in its 11pm
news the same day. The report mentioned that the gay parade
called for gay marriage and equal rights. But sadly the official
media completely ignored the fact that 1800 people from
around the world marched to celebrate sexual and gender
diversity, not to mention bringing in the pink dollar to boost
Hong Kong’s economy. The next day, the local Chinese
newspaper Ming Bao published a photo of a gay man kissing
another man on his cheek during the parade. Titled “Two
Shores, Three Regions, One Gay Parade,” three lines beneath
the picture in small letters stated that over 400 gay supporters
from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Mainland marched in the
parade calling for the elimination of discrimination. While the
tone was neutral, the actual number was played down
significantly.

On the other hand, Hong Kong’s premier English paper the
South China Morning Post published a more positive report on
the front page of its City section on Monday titled “Members of
the gay and lesbian community turn out to paint the town pink
with pride.” A picture of the giant rainbow flag passing over the
camera was released. But the report also played down the
number of participants to about 1000. A parade participant,
university student Iris Wong, was reported as saying, “We
came out today to show people that gay men and lesbians are
just normal people. Some people think we are crazy or have
mental problems. But we like to tell them that we just have a
different lifestyle.” Parade director Connie Chan was quoted
as saying, “Many Hong Kong people still see same-sex
partners as queer or something that they should stay away
from. We hope to make the parade more like a carnival rather
than a protest demanding this or that from the government. We
hope people see us as a happy community.”

As chairperson of the Women’s Coalition of HKSAR, Connie
Chan has had four years of experience in organizing parades
before this. She led her committee to stage a march on the
International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) in 2005 with
just 300 marchers. Each year the number of marchers swelled.
It takes financial resources (the cost of Pride 2009 was a hefty
HKD110,000), logistics (such as sound systems and
promotional materials), insurance coverage, publicity, police
clearance, networking among various LGBT activist groups,
volunteers, a great deal of patience, courage and strength to
make it work. Thankfully, there is no shortage of talents and
resources among LGBTQ persons. In fact, the pride parade
brings together the jewels and cream (the crème de la crème)
of Hong Kong’s LGBTQ community.  

Following the successful campaign this year to have same-sex
couples covered under the Domestic Violence Ordinance, the
next item on the agenda of Hong Kong’s LGBTQ activists is to
have sexual orientation covered under Hong Kong’s anti-
discrimination law.