A Hong Kong lawmaker has led calls against the city’s transport network for displaying an advert showing a same-sex couple.
‘The incident shows the pro-gay rights movement in Hong Kong has created a chilling effect’ Priscilla Leung Mei-fun said on Sunday,
An advertisement for airline Cathay Pacific depicting two men holding hands on a beach was finally shown on the city’s Mass Rapid Transit (MTR) over the weekend.
This advert featuring a same-sex advert was initially banned from Hong Kong’s subway (Photo: Facebook)
The MTR made a U-turn after it emerged the advert had been banned because it ‘offended’ ‘public decency’.
‘The advert is highly controversial and can affect the growth of children’ Leung said at a press conference together with more than 16 anti-LGBT groups.
Leung said she would be using her position in the city’s Legislative Council to appeal the decision. She has represented the district of Kowloon West since 2008.
Notorious anti-LGBTI campaigner Roger Wong Wai also hit out against the city’s much-awaited anti-discrimination legislation.
He wanted it could end in a ‘pro-gay rights movement monopoly’, according to the South China Morning Post.
Hong Kong LGBTI rights activists this weekend celebrated as the advertisement appeared across the MTR network.
he city’s LGBTI groups launched hand-holding
‘We have been in contact with the relevant advertising agency and have just confirmed to the agency that the advertisement in question can be displayed at MTR stations,’ a JCDecaux spokeswoman said in a statement, according to the
Hong Kong’s largest airline, Cathay Pacific, last week launched an LGBTI-inclusive advertisement as part of its rebrand.
A poster at the airline’s headquarters shows two men holding hands on a beach with ‘Move beyond labels’ written underneath.
A statement said it had asked JCDecaux to consider MTR’s ‘commitment to equal opportunities and diversity when it considers advertisements in the future.’
The city’s only openly-gay lawmaker Ray Chan hit back by saying MTR said ‘a statement reaffirming its commitment to diversity is not enough’.
He said, as a public corporation, MTR had a responsibility to make a public explanation and apology. He also threatened to hold a mass hand-holding protest.
Hong Kong’s latest LGBTI group, Hong Kong Marriage Equality (HKME), launched a ‘move beyond discrimination’ campaign in response.
HKME co-founder Jerome Yau on Tuesday told Gay Star News they were ‘delighted the MTR had ‘done the right thing’.
‘HKME hopes that this is the beginning of a more welcoming attitude from MTRC and its associated vendors’.
Chan, meanwhile, urged the MTR and JCDecaux to set up clear guidelines so it didn’t happen again.
Both Yau and Chan called on the Airport Authority to also allow the ad.
Chinese society puts a lot of emphasis on heterosexual families and there are no legal anti-discrimination protections.
Hong Kong does not recognize same-sex marriages. And, the city only decriminalized gay sex in 1991.
What’s more, many LGBTI citizens do not come out to their family and colleagues.
In July last year, however, . The Court of Final Appeal ruled the immigration department when issuing spousal visas.
Also, earlier this year, two gay men won the right to
