Gay pride in Hong Kong: top diplomats join 10,000 in march after top Catholic's anti-gay letter causes outrage

More people than ever before turned out for Hong Kong's gay pride march yesterday, just days after city's top Catholic cleric criticised same-sex marriage and in effect urged Christians not to vote for candidates who back gay rights in this month's key District Council elections.

Organisers said 9,500 people - among them 10 top diplomats from the United States, Britain and France and other countries - took part in Hong Kong's seventh annual Pride Parade, during which former health chief York Chow Yat-ngok - who now heads the Equal Opportunities Commission - criticised "politics getting involved in church beliefs".

"As a Christian, I see … our religion taught us to love people, have compassion for people, to be gracious, and we are taught not to discriminate [against] people," Chow said.

READ MORE: Catholic bishop of Hong Kong hits out at gay marriage and tells flock to consider the issue before voting

During the rally, the government was urged to take immediate action to enact laws to protect sexual minorities against discrimination.

Tommy Jai, one of the parade organisers, said: "We have waited 20 years for anti-discrimination legislation already, and that's far too long."