Hong Kong’s largest LGBTQ event Pink Dot to celebrate 10th anniversary in September
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s largest LGBTQ event Pink Dot will celebrate its 10th anniversary later this month, a decade after it was first brought to the city from Singapore.
The September 22 event at West Kowloon will bring Pink Ambassadors Lana Wong, Pong Nan, and Yan Ting to the Pink Dot stage. Also featured at the event is transgender singer-songwriter Xavian Wu, otherwise known by his artist name SY.
“At first I wondered if I should say I’m transgender because I was worried about all kinds of trouble and what people would say. But then I realised this is an identity I’m proud of, and I want to use my music to bring discussions about gender into mainstream culture,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
He also said that society’s understanding of transgender identity had improved over the past three or four years with the establishment of new NGOs focusing on trans issues. He added that he hoped people could learn more about gender-related issues at Pink Dot.
Admission to Pink Dot’s more than 80 booths and over 20 performances on September 22 will be free of charge. The event will be held from 1 pm to 7 pm at the West Kowloon Cultural District Art Park.
Pride across generations
Ninety-three-year-old actor Lana Wong, one of the event’s ambassadors, said on Tuesday: “The most important thing between people is mutual respect; whether it’s men with men, women with women, or men and women together.”
“We love in our own way,” the nonagenarian said, adding that she had taken part in every edition of Pink Dot since 2014. “Back in my day, there was so much gossip. I just pretended they weren’t there!” she said.
Singer Pong Nan, who now makes music under independent label Quiet Rebel, said he was relieved to be able to be an ambassador for Pink Dot now that he had no obligations under a major record label. “This year, I’m able to take part in Pink Dot in the most natural and comfortable way.”
Singaporean singer Yan Ting, the youngest of the three ambassadors, recalled his first Pink Dot in Singapore’s Chinatown in 2009. “We were just celebrating and having fun – we were just being there,” he said. “Sometimes just being there is enough.”
Public event, corporate sponsors
Also speaking at Tuesday’s press conference, Gas Ng, one of the organisers for Pink Dot, said: “Despite the uncertain economic outlook recently we’ve reached our 10th anniversary with significant financial backing from our business partners.”
Speaking to reporters after the press conference, event director Brian Leung said it had become a “global trend” for corporates to lend the LGBTQ community their support through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
As one of Hong Kong’s largest LGBTQ organisations, Pink Dot relies mostly on corporate sponsors such as law firms, investment banks, and insurance companies, including Standard Chartered, Morgan Stanley, and Prudential.
Representatives from HSBC and Prudential welcomed the event at the Tuesday press conference.
In contrast, some NGOs in Hong Kong that have historically sought financial backing from government funds have seen their funding cut recently. Groups told HKFP recently that they considered applying for overseas support risky under the city’s security laws, and that they had also faced pressures over hosting public events.
With more than 30 sponsors, Pink Dot 2024 did not apply for funding from the government. But Leung said he knew of smaller NGOs that had their funding slashed by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau.
“That’s why I think a public event is needed for them to show what they do, to allow more people to understand what their services are,” Leung added. “Now that corporates have a focus on DEI, I hope that they can also support smaller local organisations so that they, too, can survive.”
Recalling the days when the city’s pride parade was still permitted, Leung said he hoped the march could make a return. “It’s not easy to do political advocacy. We’re using culture and entertainment to bring forward this message,” Leung said. “That’s the only way out, for now.”
But he nonetheless believed that Pink Dot could serve its own function, albeit in a “softer” way, compared with the more political pride parade. “Now that our civil society has been weakened, we still need an excuse to see each other. That’s when you realise: ‘you are not alone’,” he said.
The event will be held in collaboration with Covenant of the Rainbow, an LGBTQ-friendly church group.
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