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Hong Kong lawmaker Ann Chiang and Civil Human Rights Front convenor Jimmy Sham locked in heated Facebook row over his sexual orientation

  • Pro-establishment legislator remains defiant after earlier banned post in which she accused Sham of ‘hiding’ gay identity
  • After Sham took the matter to the EOC, Chiang accuses him of not being ‘ready’ if he considers her remarks an attack

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Activist Jimmy Sham (left) and lawmaker Ann Chiang trade barbs over accusations she made against him online. Photo: Dickson Lee/K.Y. Cheng

A pro-establishment lawmaker in Hong Kong locked in a Facebook row over the sexual orientation of a social activist has hit back at her target, demanding that he face criticism and doubling down on an earlier accusation that he was “deliberately hiding”.

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Denying she was discriminating against him, legislator Ann Chiang Lai-wan wrote on the social media platform on Friday that Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, the openly gay convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, was “not ready yet”, if he considered remarks she had made earlier this month an attack.

The front was the organiser of two massive marches in June against the now-suspended extradition bill, estimated to have drawn 1 million and 2 million participants respectively.

Lawmaker Ann Chiang on a radio show. Photo: Edmond So
Lawmaker Ann Chiang on a radio show. Photo: Edmond So

On July 1, Chiang shared a video on her Facebook page, slamming Sham and saying he had “never mentioned his sexual orientation” in his role within the pro-democracy group.

“Deliberately concealing that, for power, money or fame?” captions in the video, which showed Sham in drag at an event, stated. “Corrupting social morals, just disgusting.”

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