HONG KONG — Scores of athletes celebrated the opening of the Homosexual Video games in Hong Kong on Saturday regardless of opposition from anti-LGBTQ lawmakers, marking the primary time the worldwide sporting occasion to be held in Asia.
Practically 2,400 contributors from about 45 territories, together with Britain, america, and Australia, will compete in a wide range of video games, from tennis and swimming to culturally wealthy actions like dragon boat racing and mahjong within the nine-day occasion.
The video games are being held concurrently within the Mexican metropolis of Guadalajara that includes lots of the identical occasions, a primary for the competitors that was first held in San Francisco in 1982.
Following the procession of athletes, a sequence of performances adopted, highlighting Hong Kong’s Chinese language tradition, but in addition incorporating fashionable dance, musical theater and lion dancers.
LGBTQ+ activism is a uncommon spot that’s nonetheless making appreciable progress in Hong Kong underneath a authorities crackdown on its civil society following the 2019 pro-democracy protests. The video games foster hopes for a wider inclusion of sexual minorities within the Asian monetary hub after court docket wins final month over housing and inheritance rights for same-sex {couples} married abroad.
The town can be shifting towards a framework for recognizing same-sex partnerships following a landmark ruling in September.
However the metropolis’s LGBTQ+ growth is uneven. There isn’t any regulation in opposition to discrimination based mostly on sexual orientation and same-sex marriage isn’t acknowledged. Whereas there’s rising social acceptance for sexual minorities, particularly among the many youthful era, a portion of the native society stays conservative.
A number of pro-establishment lawmakers, together with Junius Ho, have publicly opposed the occasion, which runs from Friday to the next Saturday.
Ho requested Chief Govt John Lee to watch out for “unhealthy ideologies” infiltrating Hong Kong and acts of “comfortable resistance,” in accordance with a letter he posted on Fb on Friday. He agreed with different critics who argued that the video games advocate for legalizing same-sex marriage, a transfer they claimed breaches a nationwide safety regulation Beijing imposed on the previous British colony following the protests.
Earlier this week, distinguished pro-establishment politcian Regina Ip, a number one member of the Govt Council, Hong Kong’s Cupboard, confronted criticism from homosexual rights skeptics for her assist for the video games.
Ip, a stalwart of the institution and lengthy a goal of liberal politicians, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a welcoming handle, saying “”historical past is being created immediately.” Hong Kong, she stated, is proud to be the primary Asian metropolis to host the Homosexual Video games, including that confirmed the monetary middle’s dedication to put itself “within the forefront of the world’s most open and liberal cities.”
Ip additionally cheered that the 2 largest contingents got here from Hong Kong and mainland China. Homosexual rights and expression in China have proceeded solely in matches and begins within the face of a extremely authoritarian, conservative and patriarchal regime.
“Equal alternative and non-discrimination are extremely treasured by our authorities and our individuals,” Ip stated, citing court docket rulings upholding authorized rights for LGBTQ+ individuals and the institution of a authorized framework for same-sex partnerships.
The occasion has encountered varied challenges because the organizers received the bid to host the video games six years in the past, with restricted assist from the federal government.
Requested Saturday about opposition to the video games, Hong Kong’s not too long ago put in Cardinal Stephen Chow responded that he understood some may be uncomfortable with the idea, however that “Hong Kong is a various society and we must always respect range.”
“Even while you really feel uncomfortable, some house ought to be given to others,” Chow informed reporters.
The COVID-19 pandemic not solely compelled a year-long delay of the occasion but in addition not directly led to its downsizing. This occurred when Guadalajara in Mexico was named as a co-host for the video games, at a time when the town was grappling with uncertainty about when journey restrictions can be lifted.
Considerations concerning the safety regulation — which has been used to arrest a few of Hong Kong’s main human rights activists — have deterred some LGBTQ+ supporters from visiting Hong Kong. Nonetheless, some from Taiwan, which China claims as its personal territory, visited the town underneath the title Chinese language Taipei underneath which it competes in worldwide sporting occasions.
Hong Kong and Beijing have defended the safety regulation saying it introduced again stability to the town.
Self-governing democratic Taiwan is the one area in Asia to permit same-sex marriages. Final month it hosted the most recent in additional than 20 annual delight parades, drawing an estimated 176,000 onlookers and contributors.
Alonso Chen, a frequent participant within the Taipei occasion, stated that whereas some in Taiwanese society stay extremely unacceptable of the LGBTQ+ neighborhood, the presence of fogeys with their kids at current occasions reveals a rising acceptance.
“For me, this is essential, as a result of dad and mom are exhibiting their children that that is a part of regular life. They’re saying to children, ‘Look, they’re similar to your classmates or academics. We’re the identical and there’s nothing completely different’.”
The primary Homosexual Video games had been first held in San Francisco in 1982.