‘A little hope here’: Hong Kong’s LGBTQ carnival Pink Dot returns, but faces new police restrictions
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s LGBTQ-friendly carnival Pink Dot has been held outdoors again for the first time since 2018, but organisers were requested by police to follow new rules – including barricading the venue, conducting bag checks, banning alcohol sales and ending the event earlier than planned.
Held by registered society Pink Dot at the Art Park at West Kowloon Cultural District on Sunday, the event coincided with the city’s “patriots-only” District Council election. Brian Leung, a spokesperson for the organiser, told HKFP that more crowd control and safety measures were required for Sunday’s Pink Dot compared to the last time it was held outdoors.
“We have had to enclose the venue with barricades, set up an entrance and some exits, and conduct bag checks at the entrance, ” Leung said in Cantonese. “And we were not allowed to sell alcoholic drinks this year as the police were concerned that participants would misbehave after consuming alcohol.”
Inspired by Singapore’s Pink Dot, Hong Kong hosted its first Pink Dot event in 2015 to promote inclusion. In the past, the outdoor party featured booths hosted by LGBTQ groups, live music, and a Pink Bar selling alcohol. And there were never any barricades.
The organiser cancelled the event in 2019, when the city was at the height of protests, and it went online in 2020. For the past two years, Pink Dot went ahead indoors.
Leung said the police informed the organiser last Friday, two days before the event, that officers would visit all the booths at noon on Sunday, before the carnival kicked off, and that it should end at 8pm – on hour earlier than originally planned, citing crowd control.
As a result, Leung said the presentations by representatives of six LGBTQ NGOs, who were supposed to introduce their services and work to attendees, all had to be cancelled.
“Now, the scale of gay activities in Hong Kong is smaller [than it used to be], and it’s also more difficult to host gay activities – that’s the reality,” Leung said. “But if we can still take Pink Dot from indoors to outdoors this year, that makes an important statement – with peaceful and legal activities, the gay community can still come together and speak up.”
Hong Kong Pride Parade, a large-scale gay march in support of LGBTQ rights, has also gone indoors since 2021. In 2019, it took the form of a rally instead of a march, and, like Pink Dot, it was hosted online in 2020.
In November, Hong Kong made history by hosting the Gay Games, marking the first time in the inclusive sporting event’s 40-year history that it has been handed to an Asian city. But the event was hampered by a lack of government cooperation, internal strife and the Covid-19 pandemic. It also saw calls for its cancellation from conservative groups and rights activists alike.
Ahead of Pink Dot, a conservative group also urged the government not to lease the West Kowloon venue for the carnival, saying the event “attacked the institution of ‘traditional’ marriage.” Pro-establishment lawmaker Junius Ho told HK01 in early December that it was not appropriate to hold such an event on an election day, as it may “distract people’s attention. “
Speech session cancelled
Starting from around 1 pm, the seven-hour carnival saw 13,174 attendees – its highest ever turnout – according to the organiser, as the District Council poll recorded its lowest voter turnout of 27.5 per cent.
Twenty-four groups and NGOs serving the LGBTQ community held booths at the carnival, along with sponsors from international firms such as Prudential, Manulife, UBS and Bank of America which hosted games stalls.
Jensen Yiu, vice-president of the Society of True Light, told HKFP that he was happy to see the event back outdoors after five years to facilitate public education.
“Here we can meet tourists, young families, and also elderly people with children to have fun. When it was held indoors, most participants were from the LGBTQ community,” Jensen said in Cantonese.
However, he said he was disappointed that the group was not able to go on stage to give its presentation.
“We were supposed to share our concerns about conversion therapy in the city. Due to social pressure, many from our community receive therapy to become ‘straight’, which has a negative impact on their mental health,” Jensen said. “But we were informed on Friday that the presentation had to be cancel. It was quite sudden, and all we could do was accept it. “
A man who gave his surname as Chan, a volunteer from Grey and Pride – a group serving older gay people – told HKFP that it was good to see more attendees this year compared to the indoor events. “We just hope the public can know more about our group. We haven’t noticed any restrictions at the carnival,” Chan said.
Leung, the Pink Dot spokesperson, said around eight police officers had patrolled the venue at noon on Sunday, but had not appeared to closely examine the leaflets and promotion materials in each booth.
An HKFP reporter did not see any uniformed officers at the carnival on Sunday afternoon.
A little hope
Lining up in front of a games booth with a friend, Samantha, who spoke to HKFP under a pseudonym, said that she felt “a sense of community” at Pink Dot. She was from the US and had lived in Hong Kong for 21 years.
“As queer, we felt quite alone in the city in daily life. But here I am not alone at all. There are a lot of people here who have similar stories to us,” Samantha said. “It’s very easy to talk with people here. You just say ‘hey’ and we start to share our stories. “
Working in the education sector, Samantha said she sometimes felt that the city had become “unbearable” in recent years. “With all the things of the national security law and what the government did… you can still feel a little hope here,” she said, “We can’t talk about five year, 10 years, whether we will be in Hong Kong, but we’re still here now. “
Near another game booth, a man who gave his name as Poon was queuing up with his 10-year-old son. He told HKFP that he did not know about Pink Dot.
“I cast my ballot [for the District Council election] in the morning and came to West Kowloon Cultural District with my son. And the boy wanted to play the games when he saw them,” Poon said in Cantonese. “It’s very lively here, with many dogs playing around, very relaxing.”
“Now I know what the event was about, I think that’s what Hong Kong should be: more inclusive and not excluding others,” Poon said.
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