January 17th, 2013
EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED OVER GOVERNMENT STONEWALLING
The Pink Alliance is extremely disappointed that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying failed to take the initiative to start consulting the public on enacting a law to protect sexual minorities from discrimination.
“The need to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation is long overdue,” said Reggie Ho, chair of Pink Alliance. “17 years have passed since the Legislative Council last debated an anti-discrimination bill. The lack of action is totally unacceptable, and an affront to the dignity of our fellow LGBT people.”
Hong Kong’s LGBT citizens are only asking for equal rights and equal treatment. The continued denial of equal protection of the law is a grave injustice to the sexual minorities living in this city. These people are no different than other law-abiding citizens; they pay taxes and make significant contributions to the arts, science, technology, business and many other areas.
Added Ho: “These people can be your neighbours, friends, relatives or family members. Isn’t it unfair that because of who they love, they are relegated as second-class citizens?
“Mr. Leung was misguided into believing that launching a public consultation could deal a blow to family, religion and education. It is precisely because of the controversy that we need a consultation to dispel myths and find a common ground. After all love and equality are universal values.”
Experiences from other jurisdictions indicate that an anti-discrimination law will bring salutary effects to the society, as this sends out a clear message that hatred and bigotry have no place in any society that champions progressive values.
We call upon the government to revisit the issue as soon as possible, and launch a public consultation without further delay. We also want to emphasize that anti-discrimination laws and religious freedom are not mutually exclusive. We can build a truly inclusive society if all parties are willing to put aside their prejudices and come up with solutions that are fair, just and reasonable.
November 8th, 2012
Pink Alliance is disappointed of the defeat of Motion by Legislator Cyd Ho’s motion to . urge Gov’t to conduct public consultation on sexual orientation discrimination
The Motion has enjoyed support across the political spectrum which refuted any claims of lack of consensus in the broader society , the 8 abstain votes in functional constituencies shown the motion would have narrowly passed demonstrated Hong Kong as being ready for the process to begin. The opposing parties, namely the HKSAR Government, certain legislators were seen to be in the Stone Ages and oblivious to world trends , and will be judged as being on wrong side of history.
Furthermore, support shown by legislators with religious backgrounds had triumphed ignorance and fear. Reverse Discrimination ” such rubbish logic and scaremongering despite being proven as fallacy or red herring, still upheld by opposing legislators. Pink Alliance Chairman Reggie Ho has this comment , ” Pink Alliance will unite other LGBT organisations in Hong Kong and exhaust all avenues, public or lobbying to convince more legislators to join our cause in the remaining 5 years legislative term.”
Finally, Pink Alliance wish to thank the legislators Cyd Ho, Ray Chan, Regina Ip and others who spoken for LGBT Community in HK today. The Battle has just begun !
革命才剛開始，同志仍需努力
July 17th, 2012
Pink Alliance Urges Pastor Lam Wing Lok to withdraw anti-gay comments
For Immediate Release
Pink Alliance Urges Pastor Lam Wing Lok to withdraw anti-gay comments
(Hong Kong, 15 June, 2012) Pastor Lam has frequently appeared as a humorous and enlightened Man of Collar in mass media; his anti-gay comments recently posted on You Tube however, present a mirror opposite of his image but sits very well with certain religious bodies. The video clip has since caused uproar in Hong Kong with Lam bombarded under a barrage of criticism.
The Pink Alliance is deeply disturbed by such comments and urge Pastor Lam to withdraw such comments and apologies to Hong Kong Citizens
Lam’s appearance in Commercial Radio 1 , not only failed to deflect criticism but failed to express sincere remorse over his comments , but only “apologize” for having been misunderstood and shove the responsibility back to the online audience .
The Pink Alliance regards the 5 minute clip as filled with bigotry and misinformation but was not taken out of context. That” under original sin, all sins are equal “as a premise in the beginning of sermon and outside the clip , is never a license to say whatever he pleases and allowed him to frame the sermon as a theological discussion per se. In the original clip, he explicitly stated that gays need to be corrected, compared homosexuality to cancer and doubted that it is inherent after all. Using a series of rhetorical questions, he is simply insinuating the obvious but refuse to own up to them.
Furthermore, he claimed on radio that since the sermon took place in his church, with worshippers, not the general public being the intended audience and therefore does not constitute offense to the latter. Everyone can now easily shoot a video and post it in no time which makes US careful of our speech and behavior, simply being in “home turf” is no getting away with it. Pastor Lam is one of the most well-known celebrities in the Protestants Community and his church having an open door policy; he simply cannot expect comments like these will never see the light of day and brush off possibility of a public outrage.
Lam’s attempt to use rhetorical devices to mislead, on his radio appearance only unmasked him of what he really is . Listing homosexuality , drug addiction , theft cancer and natural born killers side by side, he claimed, did not infer similarities. His church is not an ivory tower/institute of higher learning and his worshippers probably not too well versed in Logics and Rhetorics either but just normal citizens like you and me. What did he actually expect his audience to take home? Allusion by grouping together so as to mislead is just one of dirty tricks employed by fundamentalist zealots, one has to take into account of other ploys he dispersed throughout the speech to realize that this clip is never an inadvertent verbal gaffe but a timely undressing of another religious extremist.
Youtube Link on Pastor Lam’s anti-gay comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t5Wk1CgEWk
Pastor Lam appearance on Commercial Radio One :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld-A7ECRGK0
The Pink Alliance (aka Tongzhi Community Joint Meeting or TCJM) aims to link tongzhi organizations operating in Hong Kong, to assist them in their work and to provide a network for information in both Chinese and English within the tongzhi community. The TCJM will also research and campaign on issues of key importance.
For media enquiry or interview requests please contact:
Public Relation Officer John Lodo
Email: press@tcjm.org Tel: 96577741
website ：www.tcjm.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PinkAlliance.HK
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
粉紅同盟要求林以諾撤回反同性戀言論
﹝香港, 6月15日﹞經常於傳媒上表現幽默開明的林以諾牧師，發表的反同性戀言論最近被放上You Tube ，與其一貫形象完全不符，保守程度不遜於某類宗教團體。片段一經流傳，引發全城公憤，人人口誅筆伐。
粉紅同盟對此深感憤慨，要求林以諾撤回相關言論及為推諉過人
向全港市民道歉。
昨晚林以諾上商業電台光明頂節目解畫，非但不能令事件降溫，只願為引起社會誤解而道歉云云，絲毫未有悔意，把責任全推給聽過或看過這段短片的每一位。
粉紅同盟認為5分鐘的片段，內裡全屬對同志社群詆譭侮蔑之詞，不能只在講道開頭/鏡頭外扔下一句，「每人都有原罪
，就隨後時間都大放厥詞。「原罪
是一個神學概念，不是免死金牌。在原片段裡，指同性戀需要糾正，一時將同性戀比喻作癌症需要醫治，一時指同性戀傾向未必天生，企圖用反問形式洗腦。
另外，他又指該段講道乃於其教會內進行，並非以大眾作對象，所以不算冒犯。現在資訊發達，用手機已可拍下視像及擺上互聯網，每一個人都需要為自己言行負責，「主場
不等於為所欲為。基督教內以林以諾享最高知名度，況且人人都可以進入其教會進行崇拜，焉有不知片段會被公開的一天和低估公眾反應？
林以諾在『光明頂』上的詭辯令香港人看清真面目，指將同性戀、吸毒、偷竊、癌症並列，不等於歸類云云，他講道的地方不是高尚學府，信眾亦不是全部受過嚴謹邏輯學訓練，只是你我他一般市民。串結聯想來誤導乃十分卑劣行為，明顯熟諳這類伎倆，絶不是意外失言，只是東窗事發。
同性戀嘅基督教應該做D乜 (林以諾 牧師):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t5Wk1CgEWk
林以諾光明頂訪問:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld-A7ECRGK0
粉紅同盟介紹：致力於推動香港同志組織間之合作，協助各組織的工作，及提供一個中英文並用的資訊網絡予各同志組織。粉紅同盟 亦會在重要議題上進行研究及從事相應行動。
傳媒査詢，採訪要求和索取資料聯絡:
公關主任勞先生
Email: press@tcjm.org Tel: 96577741
網址：www.tcjm.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PinkAlliance.HK
July 8th, 2012
Pink Dollar App supports Pink Alliance
Pink Alliance (TCJM) is glad to announce that it has been recognized as the first of five beneficiaries to receive support from the soon to be launched Pink Dollar App. The app , being the first of its kind in Hong Kong, is created by Pink Dollar Technologies Ltd that aims to connect LGBT-friendly businesses with the local LGBT community, their allies and all tourists visiting Hong Kong.
Pink Dollar Technologies was created by Mr. Paul Ramscar to help connecting members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community with retailers and service providers who are supportive of LGBT consumers. The Pink Dollar App as its smartphone application will be the first of its offerings catering to Hong Kong LBGT Community.
Pink Alliance hopes to see more organization and businesses get on board in promoting LGBT rights in Hong Kong. TCJM ( operating under the name Pink Alliance), aims to link LGBT organizations operating in Hong Kong and to assist them in their work and to provide a network for information in both Chinese and English within the LGBT community as well research and campaign on issues of key importance.
THE PINK ALLIANCE (Tongzhi Community Joint Meeting) is registered as a Society under the Societies Ordinance CP/LIC/SO/19/40337
Pink Alliance website: www.tcjm.org and Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/PinkAlliance.HK
Pink Dollar website: http://www.pinkdollarinc.com and Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/pinkdollarapp
粉紅同盟欣然宣布本組織已被確認作快將推出的「Pink Dollar」智能手機應用程式的五個受惠團體之一。該創本港先河的手機程式由Pink Dollar Technologies Ltd硏發，目的是將香港性小眾友善商業機構和社群、盟友及訪港旅客聯繫起來互惠互利。
Paul Ramscar創辦Pink Dollar Technologies公司以連繫香港同性戀、雙性戀及變性社群(LGBT)消費者和對以上社群友善的商戶，而Pink Dollar手機程式則是針對LGBT社群的首項產品。
粉紅同盟希望更多團體和商戶能擕手促進香港同性戀、雙性戀及變性人士權益。同志社區聯席會議 (TCJM)致力於推動香港同志(包含同性戀、雙性戀及變性社群)組織間之合作，協助各組織的工作，及提供一個中英文並用的資訊網絡予各同志組織。TCJM 亦會在重要議題上進行研究及從事相應行動。
粉紅同盟(同志社區聯席會議)是根據香港社團條例註冊的組織，編號CP/LIC/SO/19/40337
粉紅同盟網址：www.tcjm.org Facebook 專頁：https://www.facebook.com/PinkAlliance.HK
Pink Dollar 科技網址： http://www.pinkdollarinc.com
Pink Dollar 手機應用程式Facebook 專頁：https://www.facebook.com/pinkdollarapp
June 14th, 2012
Rebuttal to Truth Light Op-Ed statements
供即時發佈
誰偷走了事實真相?
粉紅同盟嚴正駁斥明光社林國冬「誰將會偷走我的宗教自由」一文
明光社項目主任林國冬在5 月31日於其成報專欄內，刊登《誰將會偷走我的宗教自由》一文，內容誇張失實，歪理連篇，企圖誤導社會對性傾向歧視立法觀感。粉紅同盟深表遺憾之餘，現詳列文中失實處，以正各方視聽。
- “Daniel Glowacki，一位14歲的男生，因在經濟堂上，與老師談論同志運動的彩虹旗幟時，表達了自己不贊成同性戀的宗教立場，結果被校方開除。”
真相是教師Jay McDowell所屬校區舉行反欺凌日，他身上穿上代表和LGBT青年同站一線的紫色T恤。上課途中要求一名女學生脫去象徵奴隸制度的南方國旗，Daniel質問為何可掛彩虹旗但不可穿南方國旗服飾 (但課室內並無彩虹旗)，師生激烈爭執，最後教師認為情況失控，將Daniel 及另一名唱和學生逐出課室。事後校區接到投訴後將教師停課及後撤銷，但Daniel 母親最近入稟聯邦法院，控告校區和Jay侵犯憲法權利。事件發生至今，從未有任何人被開除，明光社如此斷章取義，捏造情節，令人惻目。
- “這一次，因表達自己的宗教立場而被開除，處罰真的恰當、公道嗎？”
教師指是因Daniel擾亂課室秩序才要求他離開課室，校方並無開除他，相反其母親事後將兒子調班及將事件擺上全國焦點。究竟這是否恰當？公道自在人心。
- “只因表示自己的宗教立場，卻遭到被校方開除的處分，大大影響這個青年人的成長和前途。宗教自由在美國這麼強調人權的社會，也會因《性傾向歧視條例》而被嚴重侵犯，令逆向歧視的個案增多。”
香港草擬中的《性傾向歧視條例》並無條文禁止宗教在其機構內表明自身立場及擬定政策，只會保障LGBT 社群免受肉體和心理形式的歧視，何況保護弱勢社群談不上”逆向歧視”，只是某類宗教分子「狼來了」，搏取公眾同情。
-
“只要僱員突然表示自己的性傾向，就可以免去因自己不稱職而帶來的後果。”
突顯了筆者對法律無知-僱員不能忽然自稱同志避過解僱，需要提供實質證明例如人證物證等支持，以往外國亦聞所未聞有僱員佯裝同性戀保住飯碗，純屬戲劇情節。
- “同性戀者被歧視的問題大大改善，可見透過教育，能有效地改正問題””
筆者「偷樑換柱」，指教育已能足夠改善歧視問題。首先，他有何數據支持問題已大為改善?其次既然他指出已有改善，社會怎會未有共識？此乃自相矛盾之處。教育和立法並肩進行，並非代替品。
總括而言，文章開首例子不盡不實，及後更歪曲《性傾向歧視條例》內條文，將戲劇情節和實際法律操作情況混淆。一大堆似是而非的論據企圖誤導公眾，實乃明光社一實作風。
粉紅同盟重申，關於反性傾向歧視，教育立法不可或缺！不要讓明光社別有用心偷走了LGBT社群的人權。
明光社原文:
http://www.truth-light.org.hk/article/title/n3652
關於Daniel Glowacki 的連結:
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc3=&id=112352
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc3=&id=112352
http://www.queerty.com/tag/dan-glowacki/
粉紅同盟介紹：致力於推動香港同志組織間之合作，協助各組織的工作，及提供一個中英文並用的資訊網絡予各同志組織。TCJM 亦會在重要議題上進行研究及從事相應行動。
傳媒聯絡:
公關主任勞先生
Email: press@tcjm.org Tel: 96577741
網址：www.tcjm.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PinkAlliance.HK
Who has stolen the True Story?
The Pink Alliance rebuts the Society for Truth and Light’s article “Who shall take away/ my religious freedom” which appeared in Sing Pao on 31st May 2012
On May 31st 2012, Mr. Lam Kwok Dong of the Society of Truth and Light penned the article “Who shall take away my religious freedom” that appeared in Sing Pao’s Op-Ed section . The piece was filled with distorted facts and bogus arguments in an attempt to mislead public opinion against legislation to prevent discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, which they refer to as the SODO bill.
The Pink Alliance expresses its deepest regret over this sugarcoated demagoguery , and seeks now to set the record straight. The following are the real facts:
- “14 year old student Daniel Glowacki was expelled from school, because during Economics class, he stated clearly his opposition to homosexuality on religious grounds , during a discussion of the Rainbow Flag of the LGBT movement.”
Truth: Daniel’s school district was holding its Anti-Bullying Day and his teacher Jay McDowell was wearing a purple T-Shirt out of solidarity with bullied LGBT Teens. During economics class, he asked a female student to remove a belt buckle showing the flag of the southern confederacy from the American civil war, which she did. Daniel then rose and asked why the rainbow flag was allowed but not the Confederate. There was no rainbow flag in the classroom. A heated argument ensued that ended up with Daniel and another student being sent out of the classroom. The school district later received a complaint and gave McDowell a reprimand and suspension, though the latter was rescinded. Nevertheless Daniel’s mother then filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court against the school district and McDowell, claiming that both had violated her son’s constitutional rights. No one has been expelled up to now in this whole affair, something the Society for Truth and Light has deliberately fabricated.
- “This time, the student was expelled for stating his religious beliefs; was the punishment appropriate and justified ?” McDowell claimed that the duo was sent away for disruptive behaviour. There was never any expulsion from school. On the contrary, Daniel’s mother removed him from that class and put the incident into the national spotlight. How justified was this mother’s reaction? We can come up with our own verdict.
- “Just like Daniel who was expelled purely for his religious beliefs, which has greatly impacted his growth and future. Religious freedom in the land of the United States of America, that advocates human rights, would be trampled under SODO , and lead to an increase in reverse discrimination.”
Truth: The draft SODO bill did not propose, and no one does now, to prevent anyone stating their views or from operating their own internal religious policies. It protects those suffering from actual acts of discrimination, both physical and psychological. Protecting the weak and innocent cannot be characterized as ‘reverse discrimination’; this is just Christians seeking sympathy and hoping to be seen as ‘martyrs’ for their faith.
-
“An employee only needs to express his orientation to escape consequence of poor performance on the job. “
Truth: His viewpoint reflects his ignorance of the legal process, under the law, an employee could not escape dismissal by suddenly claiming to be gay, but needs to provide material proof and witnesses to substantiate his orientation and the discrimination that has occurred against him. Experience in the West has not given any proof of such examples of abuse of the law. This happens only on TV or in the movies.
- “Actually, discrimination against gay has improved greatly of late, this serves as evidence that education can effectively correct such problem.”
Truth: The writer brazenly claims that education alone is enough to eradicate discrimination. With what evidence can he support this view? If there is indeed less discrimination, can public consensus be so beyond reach? Education and legislation go hand in hand but never substitute for one another. Education will not prevent discrimination by the bigoted.
In Conclusion, the piece by the Society for Truth and Light is full of distorted facts and misrepresents the SODO draft bill. It confuses drama plot lines with actual legal statutes.
The Pink Alliance asserts the importance of BOTH education and legislation in combating sexual orientation discrimination. We need to be vigilant against any attempt by the Society for Truth and Light or other faith based groups to deny the LGBT citizens of Hong Kong their civil rights and protection from abuse.
http://www.truth-light.org.hk/article/title/n3652
Links on Daniel Glowacki incident:
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc3=&id=112352
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc3=&id=112352
http://www.queerty.com/tag/dan-glowacki/
