Colonial Ties, Movements, and Modernization
By looking specifically at formal institutions as a space for negotiating identities, Hong Kong’s historical tie to the United Kingdom, via the British Empire, is an important one to examine when thinking about the binary we assume regarding "Western vs. Eastern" notions of gender justice.
Hong Kong was a British colony after the First Opium War (1839–1842), was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War, after which the British resumed control until 1997 when Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), retaining a different form of government from mainland China under "1 Country 2 Systems" principle.
Under British colonial rule, male homosexuality was criminalized and then de-criminalized in 1991. In the UK, The Civil Partnership (Registration Abroad and Certificates) Order 2005 declares that all British nationals can register with British consulates or embassies for civil partnerships outside the UK. However, the British Consulate in Hong Kong does not provide this service "because of the disagreement from the Hong Kong government" (CITATION). While Hong Kong is still negotiating its politics as a SAR of the PRC, the colonial ties to Britain and the border-crossing nature of global politics brings attention to the volatile nature of international law.
While sociologist Lui Tai Lok has kindly reminds us that the story of Hong Kong is not an easy story to tell, the decriminalization of homosexuality was the point of focus for many tongzhi groups in the 70's and 80's. The massive media exposure around the death of HK police inspector John MacLennan in 1980 led to the general public becoming more familiar with sexual identities and the establishment of two commissions, Commission of Inquiry, focusing on the MacLennan case and the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong on the revision of laws regulating homosexual conduct (Tang 179).
"It [the term 'tongzhi'] achieves a political contribution similar to 'queer politics,' but whereas queer politics confronts the mainstream by taking back a bigoted label, tongzhi harmonizes social relationships by taking the most sacred title from mainstream culture" (Chou 3.) As mentioned earlier, the term “tongzhi” is used synonymously with “comrade.”
According to openly gay politician Jason Chao, homosexuality was never criminalized in Macau, though same-sex unions are still not legally recognized. Unlike Hong Kong where homosexuality was criminalized by the British rule, groups were not prompted to organize by a singular political event (like fighting for de-criminalization of homosexuality) to band together to fight for social justice. The general feeling about queerness in Macau seems to be similar to the stance of the PRC in the mainland: “not encouraging, not discouraging and not promoting”.
There perhaps is not solely one explanation to the stark divide of political public and private lives, but the division of knowledge about the laws may be a factor in public participation and visibility of queer rights. Although the official languages of Macau are Portuguese and Chinese (not entirely clear if it’s Cantonese or Mandarin, but most people speak Cantonese), most of the legal proceedings are originated in Portuguese. Historically, the ethnic Chinese people of Macau were excluded from political life.
While I was there, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Anthony Lam, The Director of the group Rainbows of Macau.
[interview here]
Hong Kong was a British colony after the First Opium War (1839–1842), was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War, after which the British resumed control until 1997 when Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), retaining a different form of government from mainland China under "1 Country 2 Systems" principle.
Under British colonial rule, male homosexuality was criminalized and then de-criminalized in 1991. In the UK, The Civil Partnership (Registration Abroad and Certificates) Order 2005 declares that all British nationals can register with British consulates or embassies for civil partnerships outside the UK. However, the British Consulate in Hong Kong does not provide this service "because of the disagreement from the Hong Kong government" (CITATION). While Hong Kong is still negotiating its politics as a SAR of the PRC, the colonial ties to Britain and the border-crossing nature of global politics brings attention to the volatile nature of international law.
While sociologist Lui Tai Lok has kindly reminds us that the story of Hong Kong is not an easy story to tell, the decriminalization of homosexuality was the point of focus for many tongzhi groups in the 70's and 80's. The massive media exposure around the death of HK police inspector John MacLennan in 1980 led to the general public becoming more familiar with sexual identities and the establishment of two commissions, Commission of Inquiry, focusing on the MacLennan case and the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong on the revision of laws regulating homosexual conduct (Tang 179).
"It [the term 'tongzhi'] achieves a political contribution similar to 'queer politics,' but whereas queer politics confronts the mainstream by taking back a bigoted label, tongzhi harmonizes social relationships by taking the most sacred title from mainstream culture" (Chou 3.) As mentioned earlier, the term “tongzhi” is used synonymously with “comrade.”
According to openly gay politician Jason Chao, homosexuality was never criminalized in Macau, though same-sex unions are still not legally recognized. Unlike Hong Kong where homosexuality was criminalized by the British rule, groups were not prompted to organize by a singular political event (like fighting for de-criminalization of homosexuality) to band together to fight for social justice. The general feeling about queerness in Macau seems to be similar to the stance of the PRC in the mainland: “not encouraging, not discouraging and not promoting”.
There perhaps is not solely one explanation to the stark divide of political public and private lives, but the division of knowledge about the laws may be a factor in public participation and visibility of queer rights. Although the official languages of Macau are Portuguese and Chinese (not entirely clear if it’s Cantonese or Mandarin, but most people speak Cantonese), most of the legal proceedings are originated in Portuguese. Historically, the ethnic Chinese people of Macau were excluded from political life.
While I was there, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Anthony Lam, The Director of the group Rainbows of Macau.
[interview here]
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