Love— is it bounded by gender? by Samantha Lee

Known as a city with a multitude of languages, Hong Kong houses 7+ million citizens of diverse cultures. Home to a treasure trove of traditions, our city has always been proud of its status as ‘Asia’s World City’— a place of sustainability, prosperity and advancement. Yet, discrimination and marginalisation of queer women persist; no matter in the field of education, institution, representation or legislation. Women in the LGBT community, irrespective of age, continue to be stigmatized for what they believe in. Then why, if this city proclaims to be progressive, prevails its silence on the injustice queer people carry on to face to this very day? 

Traditional Chinese values are familiar to many Hong Kongers, regardless of their generational differences. The idea that a romantic relationship between two people involves only a man and woman— that the heterosexual view of sexuality is predominantly seen as natural, coherent, and privileged; is often the narrative forced upon us since young. Opposition towards filial piety is furthermore associated with queerness, where queer women choosing to move away from their families are considered disrespectful. Yet, the misunderstanding and confusion faced before relocating are never brought up. Accompanied by heavy stigmatization from these values, the discriminating of queer women inevitably planted its seed into the subconscious of many. 

In the same scope, local schools tied to religious backgrounds pose detrimental effects on the mental health of to queer women in Hong Kong. The anti-LGBT beliefs that were prevalent in the preaching of many common religions, including Christianity and Catholicism, ultimately went on to promote several decades of implicit bias against queer woman. These biases include the condemning of same-sex behaviour, labelling LGBT culture as a sin. In 2013, an LGBT organization received complaints regarding a local private school, where teachers and staff were required to endorse a document called “Standards of Biblical ethics and integrity”. In the document, it clearly stated that “homosexuality, transvestitism, alternate gender identity” are “improper behavioral choices of

individuals.” As a society that prides itself on combatting prejudice and bigotry, haven’t we in fact, failed women of queer identities time and time again? 

Despite the continuous efforts to promote acceptance of queer women, through recent films such as “The First Girl I Loved” premiered during November 2021; most forms of LGBT media representations were shut down entirely. No example of this is starker than the censorship of a poster from the film “Better Than Chocolate”, which depicts a lesbian couple. Classified as “obscene or indecent”, this queer representation film was completely banned from the public eye, and was eventually deemed illegal by the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (COIAO) in Hong Kong. We see this recurrence of implicit bias in a different circumstance— yet all for the same reason— the heinous nature of homophobia. 

To add, queer women continue to be marginalized by legislation, while traversing through the dire straits of identity expression. It is perhaps a remark once made by Junius Ho, a local pro-establishment lawmaker; that is most telling about how legislators view LGBT identities: “It is your business what you do in your room, but if you go out and do it in public, it’s disgraceful.” His comment was made during a discussion on the logistics for the upcoming Gay Games 2022, scheduled to take place in Hong Kong. This event, meant to promote unity in diversity, was instead perceived as a mere blight on our city. Even today, the debate continues on whether or not queer women have a right to compete in the games. 

“Do not believe in fate, just believe in both hands to fight hard.” A line once said by Leslie Cheung, a bisexual icon and the founding father of Cantopop; highlights the importance of fighting for LGBT acceptance in society. With that, let us start by embracing true diversity— through the spurning of queer discrimination once and for all. From the dispelling of old-fashioned beliefs, to the endorsing of more queer-identifying women in commercials and movies… these are all bound to pave the way for ridding of stigmatization towards queer women and girls. Setting up comprehensive laws to properly protect the LGBT members of society, is also a

beneficial way to combat discrimination. Hong Kong may not be able to erase decades of discrimination towards queer women overnight— but I believe with unity in hand, we can start today.