Host of Hong Kong’s axed LGBTQ radio show reflects on 17 years of We Are Family, and reveals why the cancellation wasn’t ‘something that surprised’ him

Brian Leung hosted We Are Family, Hong Kong’s only LGBTQ radio show, from 2006 until it was abruptly cancelled in July

Outspoken on gay rights, Leung blames the axing on ‘tightening censorship’ in Hong Kong, but says he succeeded if he ‘made even one listener feel less alone’

Reading Time:3 minutes

Brian Leung, the host of Hong Kong’s recently cancelled LGBTQ radio show “We Are Family”, is “proud” of working on the show for 17 years, but wasn’t surprised when he found out it was going to be cancelled in July. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 7:15am, 2 Aug 2023

Brian Leung Siu-fai says he thought long and hard about putting together the last episode of We Are Family, the groundbreaking LGBTQ show on Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) that was abruptly cancelled in July, after 17 years on the air.

He didn’t want the final show on July 30 to be a pity party. Rather, he and five co-hosts were determined to keep the tone fun and positive. After all, Asia’s first non-heterosexual radio programme had always been about one thing: hope for a better world.

It was rare for the full team to be on air at the same time. But that Sunday, Leung, Tanner, Uncle Magie, Coco Pop, Simon and Jean all showed up and invited former guests to share what a better world meant to them.

Tanner, who had been with the show since day one, imagined gay marriage finally being legalised in Hong Kong, and people waving rainbow flags in the streets of Afghanistan.

Leung has known he was gay since he was 12 years old. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

For the song to close out the show, Leung picked “Liberation” by gay icons Pet Shop Boys, with its chorus: “Take my hand / Don’t think of complications / Now, right now / Your love is liberation, liberation.”

Host of Hong Kong’s axed LGBTQ radio show reflects on 17 years of We Are Family, and reveals why the cancellation wasn’t ‘something that surprised’ him

Brian Leung hosted We Are Family, Hong Kong’s only LGBTQ radio show, from 2006 until it was abruptly cancelled in July Outspoken on gay rights, Leung blames the axing on ‘tightening censorship’ in Hong Kong, but says he succeeded if he ‘made even one listener feel less alone’

Brian Leung hosted We Are Family, Hong Kong’s only LGBTQ radio show, from 2006 until it was abruptly cancelled in July

Outspoken on gay rights, Leung blames the axing on ‘tightening censorship’ in Hong Kong, but says he succeeded if he ‘made even one listener feel less alone’