Life / Oct. 16, 2019
For the last four months, Hong Kong has been rocked by unprecedented protests and calls noVJsBuI_7H(yjLAYhsL#sH4u3d-3X4k2Q9m%BBFn_MPql2*hBfor democracy.
What began as protests a controversial bill that would allow extradition to China has developed into a widespread, and at times violent, anti-government and pro-democracyxCf-F)%MFEU3vh1(@3HNiB+=T=VA3Mi3x&mclMtf^y8VHoMbX8 movement.
Protesters have taken to the street every weekend since the beginning of June. Government tactics to quell demonstrations, such as withdrawing the controversial bill and enacting emergency 2J_KCmqZz-dSDIUPv(*hVQcN4j18^qc$@r9irkf9Ud#T8DOlSflegislation to grant police more power, have been of little use.
The movement is famously leaderless. Or, as some argue, “leader-full”, with independent proXjGGz3t*wy%5mOwtwU9kb2YKjY9y#^KzZ%AzYiDoIaGy#t9s4vtests, campaigns, and activism springing up around the beleaguered city.
But a handful of LGBT Hong Kongers have been making headlines for their part in the proVg#21wNrnc9qQWGvfTOJJI5(61Qao#wQc6&NP3B%1=wYR&bZ-stests:
Raymond Chan
Hong Kong’s only openly-gay lawmaker, Ray Chan, revealed himself as a fervent opponent to the controversial withdrawal bill back in Ma@(Ps7=MMuik$ZjMkP%8$I0WteI0lZ_ceLVj7z$+8c-EQ2CC0eRy.
Chan was seen at the center of a ruckus with pro-Beijing lawmakers. Footage shows Chan clambering on a chair or table, shouting aFJ1o*uiizx5i!#KNMqB1iWw4RVCbfGqfgVweFk^t=APR6puDvgnd pointing while other lawmakers grab his arms.
"I usually keep a meek composure, practice medi!Fj2P1S^0J2ZKzH!vyjZ%f7oK!06@Z!#4w+uHaNv&icB3T5=KPtation, prefer non-alcoholic drinks, and treat everyone with respect,” Chan wrote on Twitter.
"But when an authoritarian state strikes, every ft!te*c8ZZ7vlzIMP(!N9!bXmT95Eh(Ad*$a0OAcS@oLY!Con_*iber of my being turns into a fighter for my constituents", he said.
ChWaXpbZ(w1ElkY6J5-_Y8rZpP7W8$BgDmTbwkfGlc7=@dIMo^u9an has been fervently sharing updates of the city’s protests.Other pro-democracy legislators and activists have been attacked.
“OppositU-*tynr@wCWsp3_z06^%!dkH#=(wa=CYrTG4AkZUo0P9(4wW&#ion lawmakers are arrested, or attacked by thugs or cops, so I'm mentally prepared for either” Chan.
"I wear no protective geH8Y=YjCyW*NxF0bOnD2702b2QOEp)#Ol%GkqijmMk+-I)ix1brar as I cannot live in fear,” he explained.
This week, he and other pro-democracy legislatures disrupted Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s policy address in the legislative council^0gpv80JRfg8g9R3Rh@JoQYgN!65qF2_l%-Ky9NkS+k%KeqGFK.
Using a projector, they displayed the demo1PkKIryOlK+M(5)f%rQN&mPixRD(h+RbRNQ(_RPQqe_s@AXZqxnstrators' call for five key demands to be met as she spoke.
HoQL7R2E9o8CE46f4q*vg@_Ta)1)IdjqcodkCx*xZ+5npS@e$aLBng Kong elected Chan, the city’s first openly-gay lawmaker, to the Legislative Council in 2016. He has been a vocal advocate of LGBTI issues in the city, including pushing for anti-discrimination legislation.
Jimmy Sham
Jimmy Sham is a renowned LGBT rights and other human rights activi4g1eF@(!yf=u@&5VD2N-w&d7Ud)aXFA)r14gJ4J#h2DI#wmJEIst in Hong Kong.
He currently convenes the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) which regularly organizes legal protests against the government.
Three of its marches against the controversial extradition bill were attended by more than a million people, accord=1-9RDXtweBE*bJgu%g*ZNGV=E7lwCn8_+(AQuuDWyZa#*eY3&ing to CHRF.
In late August, Sham and _6y(bSRUGvf$)Y#kY)FM_u&7s+EsA8o)Bd-%E%+R7Gc@+Tn_u#a companion were attacked by two masked men wielding a baseball and a knife. Sham was left unscathed but his companion was hospitalized.
In July, pro-esta(VkR%1nMg)=xZ_A7fVaf71R)m+gvG%G@GQ1qmQAh=R&$Om2owUblishment Hong Kong lawmaker Ann Chiang Lai-wan launched a series of attacks against the gay protest leader.
Chiang shared footage jMz!7$sZs)vCaS#xMLrsOyxJcK03Sdt!ya=WfurJgAExkX!Zrkof Sham in drag on her social media. "Important news, please spread around," she wrote. Comments on the post included: "Corrupting social morals, just disgusting”.
Anthony Wong
Cantopo-G1rmCkcUTtnYCc8B6)X#yb5wcrgN$2_T&ncY7yzkOENo7_rhJp star Anthony Wong co-founded leading Hong Kong LGBT rights organization Big Love Alliance back in 2012.
Like Denise Ho, his outspoken support for the 2014 pro-democracy movement landed him in hot water with Beijing q4m@TpFJ6ouqG6gmBKkffFt(CAb7sU=(=lo$r!1S0C_LH1-UnYand he has been banned from the Chinese mainland.
He and Ho both performed at the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and at the end o#bBEK@jRk_&iK3WmaxQ*=9#=a#0#wS-AsCfvyBpJcpIaF2+bIhf one of Hong Kong’s largest marches on 9 June.
Denise Ho
Lesbian Canto-pop superstaC$&Z)x4vt*M(=V45EKTV+Rl_N5h7dA@6B7lXx2THFE1-up+r has emerged as a tenacious defender of human rights during the months-long process.
Ho has spoken out over police violence at the UN and the US Capitol. Late last month she made headlines when a pro-ChifMmDy4tcjv92*V)tj%PGbzyl6rs6+DhjsGR_Auvw*@go_M-D^^na activist doused her in paint at a Taipei rally in support of Hong Kong.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg,” she said oul9IIA(I)d%4zd$+3WCg!uOGCWzx&zR#rYGuKMj=^cg1+MmL=vf the attack on Facebook.
Ho told the UN Human Rights Council in July that the "anger of Hongkongers fonaRmjB1Jd1&LR&#zm7lbcSBSg%Yv5a8mCc59#nBF4K%&ZrgUgnllows years of deceitful promises”.
"We saw our autonomy slowly eroded" she said.
Denise Ho Wan-sze, also known as HOCC, was one of the first Hong Kong celebrities to publicly come out as a leieFemS2DN2hO4MypMA2kBFrwooiF8NUL2MqX^uBmURn9(L-rrisbian in 2012.
"You have to strengthen yourself before you can project anything,”o1TRLW*1nqkxrSB$*97bh*(-U6aWnkMlg+Li6%7R08%UDGlxPK Ho told the South China Morning Post at the time. Ho is also a founding member of LGBT rights organisation Big Love Alliance.
