Letters | The Hong Kong government claims it is fair to the LGBTI community: so prove it

The Hong Kong government is known for being unsympathetic to LGBTI equality. From the QT case to the Angus Leung case, what we have seen is a government fighting tooth and nail to prevent LGBTI individuals from enjoying equal rights.

As such, it is particularly galling for the government to claim in the Hong Kong section of the most recent national report to the UN Human Rights Council that it “continues to promote equal opportunities for persons with different sexual orientation and transgender persons”. That is utterly misleading.

To begin with, the government should start drafting a sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination ordinance. Education is simply not enough; we need a law – as an expressed voice of society – that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity and intersex status will not be tolerated.

In jurisdictions where same-sex relationships are recognised, the sky hasn’t fallen, and the institution of marriage remains strong. Same-sex relationships are as loving, caring and serious as straight relationships, and they deserve legal recognition in Hong Kong.