It starts with the criminalisation of homosexuality virtually from the day the British took over Hong Kong Island following the First Opium War in 1842, mirroring the laws in the United Kingdom. This was expanded in 1861 when the UK parliament approved the “Offences against the Person Act” which criminalised sex between men – but not women. In 1901 the maximum sentence for such gay sex was life in prison.
1974: The first gay character in a Hong Kong movie appears in “Sex for Sale”. Three years later a gay character appeared on a local television programme.
1980: Possibly the key event in Hong Kong gay history is the suicide/murder of Scottish Police Inspector John MacLennon in January, supposedly as a result of five bullets fired into his upper torso. The detail of this bizarre and controversial death and the disturbing events surrounding it were covered here -
https://gaybuttonthai.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9388
Spurred by the MacLennan death, the Hong Kong Governor briefs the Law Reform Commission to prepare a report on Homosexuality in Hong Kong and whether is should be decriminalised. The Report strongly approves such decriminalisation. Gay groups start to be formed.
1989: The Pet Shop Boys cause a stir resulting from a video played during their song “It’s a Sin”. Government censors had been promised that a short scene featuring two men kissing would be blacked out. The promise was not kept!
1991: Sex between consenting males is finally decriminalised, 24 years after the United Kingdom. Openly gay saunas and gay bars start to open.
1992: One of Hong Kong’s Cantopop kings, Leslie Cheung, comes out as bisexual. More here –
https://gaybuttonthai.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9423
1997: Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai makes the moving but bleak film “Happy Together” featuring two young Hong Kong gay men who travel to South America to see the Iguazu Falls in the hope of rekindling their fast deteriorating love affair. Wong wins Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival.
2003: Hong Kong, much of Asia and the Chinese diaspora are shocked by the suicide of Leslie Cheung at age 46. Years before he had come out as totally gay and announced to an audience of 10,000 at one of his concerts that he had had a male partner for most of his career.
Leslie Cheung
2012: Gigi Chao, unofficial spokeswoman of Hong Kong’s LGBTcommunity, marries her partner of nine years in France. Her property developer father, Cecil Chao Sze-tsung, offers US$65 million to any man who can persuade her to marry him.
2016: HSBC paints its two iconic bronze lions at the entrance to its headquarters in rainbow colours as part of the Bank’s “celebrate Pride, celebrate unity” campaign.
Original Lion
Painted Lion
2018: Hong Kong is confirmed as the location of the 2022 Gay Games
2019: Major transportation corporations overturn their ban on Cathay Pacific’s gay-themed advertisement after a public outcry. More here -
https://gaybuttonthai.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9709
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-r ... s-150-year
PS: I love this photo from the SCMP article of the Hong Kong Chief Appeals Court Justice Geoffrey Ma. It reminds me a lot of the lead character in the British TV series "Rumpole of the Bailey" superbly played by Leo McKern! The seven 6-episode series ran between 1978 and 1992
Photo: Robert Ng SCMP