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Raymond Chan Elected First Openly Gay Member Of Hong Kong Legislature

On Sunday, former TV personality Raymond Chan became the first openly gay representative in Hong Kong’s 70-person legislative assembly. But Chan, who defeated Democratic Party vice-president Emily Lau Wai-hing by a razor-thin 1,000 votes, didn’t discuss his orientation during the campaign: “I think that if I had announced it publicly during the election,” Chan confessed to the Oriental Daily, “it would have blurred the [center] of focus. I would have said so if anyone asked. I do not feel embarrassed about it but neither will I tell it to people.”

With his place in history firmly secured, Raymond will now work aggressively to implement the Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance. While Hong Kong has protections for gender, disability, age and race, this world financial capital has no protections for the LGBT community.

In an interview with Agence France Presse (AFP) Televsion, Chan, seeming relaxed and hopeful, remained optimistic on the ordinance’s success: “When discussing homosexual discrimination it’s really hard to pass the ordinance as there is a strong conservative influence in the legislative council. I hope to invite the chief executive to attend my wedding when I get married. I’ll be an example.”

 

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