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“If I would like to choose one, he’s my kind,” Faris Tse says, boldly declaring his same-sex crush. “He seems actually cute.” The 24-year-old pupil is referring to Keung To, one of many heartthrobs from Cantopop band Mirror.
However Tse is a fan of greater than the band’s music, and even their pop-star beauty. “[Mirror] helps the general public to grasp extra concerning the LGBT group,” he says.
In latest months, the 12-member band—recognized for his or her fresh-faced make-up and tight choreography—has taken Hong Kong by storm. Earlier than them, such photos of “comfortable masculinity” might solely be seen in Korean dramas and music movies. With Mirror, fashioned in 2018 by means of a ViuTV actuality present, Hong Kong now has its personal model of Okay-pop superstars BTS.
To followers, Mirror’s androgynous seems are a breath of contemporary air within the metropolis’s music scene. The band’s members, aged 22 to 33, sport funky hair and color-coordinated outfits. They’re charming and goofy in interviews, with loads of teasing in between questions as they echo every others’ solutions.
Mirror members have featured in commercials for manufacturers together with McDonald’s and electronics retailer Fortress, and have even change into the face of the town’s tourism board. But it surely’s the TV present Ossan’s Love—which stars Mirror members Anson Lo and Edan Lui as a homosexual couple—that’s maybe most chargeable for their recognition.
“I discovered the sequence very candy,” says Tse. “Earlier than that, I might solely watch ‘boy love’ scenes from Thai and Taiwanese dramas. However to my shock, we might have such a subject aired on TV in Hong Kong.”
For the LGBT group, the sequence’ debut earlier this 12 months was a landmark. “It’s such an encouragement to our group to see a drama solely depict ‘boy romance’ on [mainstream] media, in order that others can perceive, help and even respect extra about us [and] our sexuality,” Tse provides.
Extra than simply encouraging the LGBT group, Tse believes each Ossan’s Love and Mirror might have swayed public attitudes in largely conservative Hong Kong. For one factor, he says, seeing stars sport androgynous make-up has helped normalize a broader spectrum of sexual expression and gender identification, together with that of “girlier” males.
“Some rumors stated that [a] few members from Mirror are homosexual, however their followers nonetheless love them [and] even discover their behaviours cute, so I believe individuals are altering now,” Tse says.
The elevated acceptance is palpable on the bottom, Tse thinks. He’s noticed lesbian and homosexual {couples} change into extra fearless about holding arms and different public shows of affection. Only one or two years in the past, this may have elicited glares from onlookers, however now Tse says he notices that individuals have a look at same-sex {couples} with friendliness as a substitute of disdain.
Entrenched stereotypes
That’s to not say that discrimination in opposition to the LGBT group not exists in Hong Kong. Tse, who got here out of the closet some years again, says he nonetheless experiences homophobia—like when he went for a resort staycation along with his then-partner not too way back.
“One receptionist sized us up… once we checked in collectively,” he recollects.
Joe Li, chairperson of Les Nook Empowerment Affiliation, agrees that Hong Kongers is probably not as progressive of their attitudes as they could sound.
“I don’t suppose folks will come out due to the drama. Watching the drama is okay to a majority of oldsters, [just as] it’s additionally okay [that their] buddies’ kids [are] homosexual,” Li says.
Learn extra: Fans of popular Cantopop star crowdfund to plaster idol’s face on tram for his birthday
“However I’m so positive they gained’t be okay if their kids are homosexual,” she provides. “I’m sure that they will’t 100% settle for their very own youngsters being drawn to the identical intercourse.”
She acknowledges that there’s a constructive shift in the direction of accepting sexual minorities in Hong Kong, however there’s nonetheless a protracted method to go.
“Even now, some homosexuals nonetheless have questions [like] ‘How can I come out to relations?’ ‘How can I take advantage of such an identification? ‘Easy methods to cope with same-sex home violence?’ and so forth. Therefore, I’m afraid I don’t see an precise change in Hong Kong.”
Martina Ngai, the Tutorial Secretary of PrideLab, is likewise hesitant to conclude that latest developments in popular culture have moved Hong Kong nearer in the direction of equality for the LGBT group.
“The plot and character settings focus an excessive amount of on ‘boy love’ scenes as a substitute of the particular state of affairs and tradition within the homosexual group, so I don’t suppose the drama could be a pure indicator to gauge the final acceptance of homosexuality in Hong Kong,” Ngai says.
Numbers present that Hong Kongers could also be on the fence about LGBT equality, though they’re tilting in the direction of the constructive: a 2019 survey performed by the Chinese language College of Hong Kong (CUHK) confirmed that 60% of the respondents stated they agreed or very a lot agreed that there must be authorized safeguards in opposition to discrimination primarily based on sexual orientation in Hong Kong.
However conservative voices in Hong Kong’s legislature pose an impediment to the passing of legal guidelines aimed toward recognising the rights of sexual minorities within the metropolis.
In June, pro-establishment legislator Junius Ho known as the Homosexual Video games, which have been slated to be held in Hong Kong subsequent 12 months however have since been postponed because of COVID-19, “disgraceful.” The income that the worldwide sporting occasion would convey into Hong Kong could be “soiled cash,” he recommended.
Tse is happy that Hong Kong would be the first Asian metropolis to host the Homosexual Video games, hopeful that it’ll encourage extra folks to point out solidarity with the LGBT group.
However what issues greater than public opinion continues to be the acceptance of these closest to him. “I solely hope my mum up in heaven helps me,” Tse says.
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