Photo: Pixabay/skeeze
Hong Kong at night | Photo: Pixabay/skeeze
Hong Kong’s leader has been accused of ignoring LGBTI issues in a live question-and-answer session.
LGBTI groups released a statement expressing disappointment at Carrie Lam for ignoring their questions and messages on Facebook Live.
The city’s Chief Executive, Lam took 30 questions from the public for 48-minutes on Facebook Live last week. She is the first Hong Kong leader to do so.
Over 470 LGBTI-themed messages were posted during the session.
Despite LGBTI issues being one of the most popular points of discussion, Lam did not address any LGBTI-related topics.
‘Many people hoped the chief executive would respond to [calls for an] anti-discrimination law on sexual orientation and gender identity,’ Billy Leung, convenor of Hong Kong Equality Project, told the South China Morning Post.
‘However, the hosts repeatedly avoided raising questions about the issue.’
Leung also questioned whether Lam deliberately ignored LGBTI-themed messages.
Growing support
Public support for LGBTI rights in Hong Kong has grown at a rapid pace in recent years.
A study released last month showed that 50% of Hong Kongers thought same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. This is an increase from 38% in 2013.
A similar statistic showed that 78% of those polled thought that same-sex couples should have the same basic rights as straight couples. 69% also said that Hong Kong should have laws to protect against LGBTI discrimination.
However, problems for the city’s LGBTI community still persist.
In a huge blow to Hong Kong’s LGBTI rights movement, an appeals court overturned a decision to give same-sex couples the same recognition as heterosexual couples earlier this year.
There are also influential conservative elements of Hong Kong society which oppose LGBTI rights.
In June, a group called Sexual Orientation Ordinance Concern Group successfully lobbied to have LGBTI themed children’s books removed from shelves in public libraries. LGBTI rights groups and their supporters took to the streets protests the move.
