Opposition to legal protections for Hong Kong’s sexual minorities is on the wane, a university survey showed on Tuesday, as the professor behind it called on the government to “wake up” to reality and bring in the safeguards. Only 12 per cent of 1,058 people polled in a Chinese University study last year objected to laws preventing discrimination against LGBT people, down from 35 per cent in 2016. A total of 60 per cent backed the change, up four percentage points in three years, according to the telephone survey conducted by the university’s Sexualities Research Programme. Public support for same-sex marriage had also risen, from 27 per cent to 44 per cent during the same period. The share of people against it fell to 27 per cent, from 34 per cent.