‘We have no political causes’: Hong Kong Gay Games organisers dismiss lawmakers’ claims over event nature and funding from foreign states or related groups
- ‘We are not a political party. We have no political causes. The games are to promote diversity and inclusion,’ says Lisa Lam, co-chair of the Games, as event begins
- Group of anti-LGBTQ lawmakers has urged government to scrap the event, claiming it poses threat to national security and subverts traditional family values
Lisa Lam, co-chair of the Games, was speaking on Friday as the nine-day event got under way amid an escalating war of words and calls from the group of lawmakers for authorities to scrap the tournament on the grounds of national security and its alleged subversion of traditional Chinese values.
“We are not a political party,” she said on a radio programme. “We have no political causes. The Games are to promote diversity and inclusion.”
Lam added the sporting event would not be a platform to promote gender equality or same-sex marriage, as had been argued by some lawmakers, and urged society not to pin a label on the event.
But lawmaker Holden Chow Ho-ding of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said the Games would “inevitably” trigger a discussion on same-sex marriage.
He argued such discussion would “greatly impact” Hong Kong’s core family values, which emphasised heterosexual monogamy.
“But I don’t think voicing concerns over the Gay Games will influence Hong Kong’s international image,” Chow told the Post. “It will instead show the world that Hong Kong is a place to uphold traditional family values.”
