OpinionHong Kong politics: the toxic storm in a teacup over Gay Games

A lawmaker has called the upcoming event ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ and a threat to national security. But, by blowing the issue out of proportion, who are the real wolves creating discord and inciting hatred?

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Participants celebrate during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Gay Games at the Jean Bouin Stadium in Paris on August 4, 2018. Hong Kong will host the Games in 2022, the first time it will be held in Asia. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:45am, 30 Aug 2021

There are a number of things we can count on in Hong Kong politics these days. We can be certain the government will team up with the mainland media to ensure Beijing’s views are known.

There’s efficiency, for another. Notably, a bill to tackle municipal waste that had been 16 years in the making was finally, in the new age of political efficiency, passed by the Legislative Council last week.

In this spirit, however, the government and legislature may be under pressure to relook at plans that were put on the back burner, or rehash issues that have a long shelf life.

Last week, Junius Ho Kwan-yiu and Priscilla Leung Mei-fun turned out to be masters of this sort of politicking. With seemingly nothing better to do or discuss, they decided to push the not-very-hot button of homophobia.

Now, I seriously doubt the Gay Games – which will be held in Asia for the first time in November next year, in Hong Kong – are the kind of thing that these legislators wake up worrying about at 3am.

As it is, the government isn’t giving priority or preferential treatment to the Gay Games’ organisers in booking public sporting venues and facilities, even though it recognises, in the words of Home Affairs Secretary Caspar Tsui Ying-wai last week, that the event “mainly promotes the message of equality and inclusion through sports and cultural activities”.