Hong Kong Pride Parade 2009 【Be Proud Be Yourself】

Articles

Introduction

To bring out different feelings/views/meanings/practices of different identities towards this year’s theme of the pride parade, i.e. “Be Proud Be Yourself” through the use of words.

Articles is a project collaborated by Hong Kong Pride Parade Committee and independent media. Articles will be concurrently published in both Hong Kong Pride Parade official website and independent media website.

Articles welcomes all fellows to join. Please email your articles to join@hkpride.net and do not write more than 1500 words. We recommend you to write about this year’s theme. Please also remember to attach the author’s name and contact.

BE PROUD - BE YOURSELF 　Nigel@Tongzhi Literary Group

Come march with us! Hong Kong’s LGBT community will take to the streets on Sunday 1 November 2009.

The 2nd Hong Kong Pride Parade is going to be bigger and better than the Parade that last year’s, the very first Pride Parade in Hong Kong and in China, when more than 1,000 marched. With us will be people from all walks of life, all ages, all political and religious beliefs, LGBT and straight, marching together to show the world just how many of us there are in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Pride Parade is not only important in Hong Kong, but in China and across Asia, too. The eyes of the world watch us here. China’s only Pride Parade is big news around the globe. China is starting to rethink traditional attitudes towards LGBT issues. The Hong Kong Pride Parade will show that we pose no threat to the harmony of society but that on the contrary we are gloriously and happily normal! With us last year were contingents from many of China’s cities as well as individuals from many other places round the world. They’ll be with us again this time.

The next few years will be important to the community in Hong Kong. There are battles looming ahead in the Legislative Council to pass bills to include same sex couples in domestic violence legislation; to head off attempts to increase censorship of the media and the net; and to legislate against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. The forces massed against us on this are organised, wealthy and are getting their message of prejudice and hate across. We have to show how strong we are and how serious we are in demanding equal rights and an end to discrimination. The Hong Kong Pride Parade shows Hong Kong not just that we are here but that we are everyone’s family, everyone’s neighbours and everyone’s colleagues.

So joining the Pride Parade is much more important to the future of Hong Kong than maybe you ever imagined.

Hong Kong Pride Parade starts at 2.30 pm on Sunday 1 November at Southorn Playground in Wanchai (next to the Wanchai MTR) and will end at Chater Garden in Central.

Come march with us and start to change our world!