LGBT Culture in Hong Kong
Leung Kwok-hung, a member of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, took part in the LGBT parade.(AFP: Isaac Lawrence)
Despite the history of colonisation and the resulting process of Westernisation since 1842, Hong Kong still embodies many aspects of Chinese traditional values towards sexuality. It is traditionally believed that heterosexuality is the nature, coherent, and privileged sexuality. Popular media marginalises and discriminates against LGBT members of Hong Kong in an attempt to maintain "traditional lifestyles".
In 1991, the government of Hong Kong legalised male-male same sex relations. Since then LGBT activism has increased, asking for legal protections. A wave of political activism began in the 2000s.
In 2005, the government of Hong Kong conducted a telephone survey with over 2,000 persons responding. Of them, 39% indicated that homosexuality "contradicts the morals of the community." 42% of those surveyed in 2005 stated that homosexuals were not "psychologically normal".
A 2012 survey by Community Business had 1,002 respondents chosen at random and 626 persons who identified as LGBT. Of the respondents, chosen randomly, 50% stated that they accepted LGBT individuals while 25% stated they did not; 3% stated that they believed LGBT individuals were not "psychologically normal". Of the LGBT employees, 53% stated that they had to "pretend to be someone they are not" and therefore felt exhaustion, while 26% stated that the work environment did not accept them, so they, at times, had to stay home to work.
According to a survey titled 'The Hong Kong LGBT Climate', conducted by The University of Hong Kong, 25.6% of the respondents stated that they believed LGBT persons are the way they are due to their upbringing and socialisation, while 24.2% of the respondents believed they are 'born that way', and 14.3% believed it is caused by both factors. While nearly half of the respondents personally knew a person from the LGBT community, most of the respondents also stated that they 'would not mind' and 'would not have special feeling' towards LGBT individuals. Most respondents were aware of the discrimination and humiliation which LGBT individuals face in their daily lives; 85% of the respondents supported the idea of promoting inclusiveness of the LGBT community. The survey also included the experiences of Hong Kong LGBT individuals and it is noted that most of them had not fully 'come out' to their family, mostly due to the fear of not being accepted, being shamed, or being rejected by family members. For the same reason, LGBT individuals tended to seek help and support from various social media platforms instead of family members.
By 2012 many individuals who originated from Mainland China became a part of Hong Kong's LGBT culture. LGBT marches are legal in Hong Kong, while they are not permitted in many areas in the Mainland. Joanna Chiu and Christy Choi of the South China Morning Post stated that in Hong Kong lesbians stated that conservative lawmakers and Christian groups in Hong Kong make lesbianism less accepted in Hong Kong compared to Mainland China, but that Hong Kong lesbians are better able to resist pressures to marry men.
For an extensive (500-page) online bibliography of Hong Kong LGBTQ matters across many subjects, consult Towards Full Citizenship: A Preliminary Checklist of Hong Kong Gay/Lesbian-related Works = 向光明 : 香港同志情形的參考書/片目. Latest edition, with entries in Chinese and English, is 3rd (2019). (Bibliography is also available in some libraries in print format).
Workplace
LGBT people experience discrimination in the job interview as well as the workplace. During the interview, LGBT people would be discriminated by their appearance. One example is that an employer raised a question related to interviewee's sex orientation, to which the employee admitted she is a lesbian and in the end, she was not hired. The reason of unemployment is that the employer treat her sex orientation as a "trouble" and "abnormal". Besides, transgender people would come across a lot of obstacles during interview. For example, the employer behaves and treats the interviewee differently when they see that the appearance of transgender person differs from the sex shown on their ID card. Even if the transgender person is capable and qualified for the job, they would not be hired because of their ambiguous gender presentation. Not only is there discrimination during the interview, the discrimination continues in the workplace and LGBT people never get an equal treatment. A lesbian who dressed in a suit was hired by a company, but she was required to wear dress. She has no bargaining power and she could be dismissed if she rejects the request to wear dress. LGBT people are always treated with unfriendly and impolite treatment and they have less agency in workplace.
According to a survey conducted by Community Business, workers from LGBT group are feeling discriminated by others by the following aspects: 1.not being respected(80%) , 2. oral insulting or mocking(60%). Besides, they are also treated unfairly in the workplace, such as less opportunity to get a promotion(24%), required to resign(15%), and not being hired(13%)
Proposed by Community Business, the Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Index is launched on the LGBT+ workplace inclusion and initiatives in Asia. This is an index which provides a credible and robust tool to assess and promote those companies which has contributed to the LGBT+ inclusion in Hong Kong. Community Business has provided a guide for employer who has already signed up to the index to create inclusive workplaces for LGBT employees in Hong Kong. In the 2019 index, they have published some categories for employers such as equal opportunity policies, diversity structure and corporate culture. The performance of companies which have signed up will be assessed by at least two senior members of the Community Business Team. The index would be a great encouragement for company to fulfill their corporate social responsibility. It will benefit both LGBT minorities having more work opportunities as well as being an opportunity for corporate advertisement. In the 2017 report of the index, most of the highest-scoring employers are multinational financial companies or banks while there are only few local companies. Only one local company, Aids Concern, as a local non-governmental organization, was honored for 2017 LGBT+ Community Impact Award. Most awards are dominant by the international companies, though Hong Kong's local companies and SMEs are increasingly supportive. The city has a crowdsourced LGBTQ Workplace directory, LGBTQ Glassdoor.
Business
There are visible and invisible pink businesses in Hong Kong.
The visible ones are located mainly in Central, conspicuously in Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo area, as well as Wanchai. Locating in such bustling commercial areas, a "niche enclave" (Yue and Leung, 2017) is formed within the mainstream consumption area. The invisible ones are located in anonymous upstairs areas in Causeway Bay, Mongkok and Tsim Sha Tsui. There are also pop-up stores. They are usually known and operated on insiders' word-of-mouth knowledge.
Lesbian spaces are located mainly in Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok. They appear to be safe and comfortable to lesbians with the absence of men, the occurrence of sexual and verbal harassment is therefore reduced.
The invisible pink stores shows queer spaces are still marginalized in the city when facing the sexuality hegemony.