Popular Gay TV Show in Hong Kong Draws Political Attacks, Raising Worries Over Rights

 | 
07/23/2021

HONG KONG—A TV show about a male love triangle is proving a big hit with viewers, but criticism from pro-Beijing politicians is stirring concern that broader freedoms could be caught up in China’s political crackdown, even as Hong Kong prepares to host the Gay Games in 2022. “Ossan’s Love,” a 15-episode drama focusing on a romance among three men working in a real estate agency, has racked up hundreds of thousands of viewers over the past month. The show was praised by rights advocates for helping to bring gay relationships into the mainstream in Hong Kong. But the locally made show also attracted high-profile detractors. Junius Ho, an outspoken pro-Beijing lawmaker, slammed the program as “marijuana coated in sugar” this week, suggesting it was harmful to society. Mr. Ho told reporters that promoting childless families violated not only traditional Chinese values and the three-child policy encouraging larger families, but also broke China’s national security law. His remarks fanned concerns that politicians will use national security rhetoric—and a law imposed on Hong Kong last year to stifle political opposition—to push personal political agendas and target broader social rights in the city.

Regions: ,

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 07/26/2024
07/25/2024
Ghana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a six-decade-old law criminalizing gay sex as the west African country awaits another court decision on whether to …
Added on: 07/26/2024
07/25/2024
The Government of Namibia has chosen the wrong side of history by challenging the recent High Court ruling that declared the country’s apartheid-era ban …
Added on: 07/26/2024
07/25/2024
It’s hard to believe it was little over a year ago. Just 12 months ago, the best women’s soccer teams from across the globe …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Other News from ,

Added on: 07/23/2024
LGBTQ+ groups are disappointed with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) as he did not mention equal rights as …
Added on: 07/23/2024
When Y. J. Chichester Salant, a 27-year-old trans woman, went to an ENT doctor in Tel Aviv because of a serious upper respiratory infection, …
Added on: 07/22/2024
A court has ruled that police advising an LGBTQ+ individual, who was undergoing the process of gender correction and changing their resident registration number, …