It has been nearly 30 years since Hong Kong’s first bill to decriminalize gays was passed; and it will be concluded in 2021. In the past year, several judicial review cases for the rights of same-sex couples have progressed, but a long litigation process is in progress. It consumes a lot of effort, money, and time; Taiwan’s legalization of gay marriage has expired for two years, but Hong Kong has not yet recognized it. Is it a fantasy to talk about gay rights in Hong Kong, or is there always a day just around the corner?
"It will take me at least 60 years...it will be a little bit more than two 30 years," said Pastor Peng Weiye of Keene House.
He is currently the only gay pastor in Hong Kong who has come out publicly. Over the years, he has seen countless cases of torture, depression, trauma and even suicide among gay members under the mainstream framework. He believes that the gradual opening of the social atmosphere in recent years is not enough, and hopes One day, the LGBT-friendly degree can make gays "be personal", and mainstream heterosexuals will no longer be afraid and will expressly "support you".
Photography: Yu Junliang
Pastor Peng Weiye of Keene House is currently the only gay pastor to come out publicly in Hong Kong. Over the years, countless gays and parishioners have been tortured, depression, trauma and even suicide cases under the mainstream framework.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
Pastor Joe Pang is an overseas Chinese in Malaysia. He has been in Hong Kong for eight years. He started studying theology at the age of 21. After a year or two, he gradually discovered his homosexuality.
"If the (church) finds that you are a comrade, one will see counseling; the second is to pray for you in the church; the third is abiding behavior, that is, you can continue to like yourself but you can’t have sex; the fourth is if you are a church The staff should stop immediately...If you feel that you are wrong, please leave the church." Joe said that he was the last category at the time.
But before coming out, he also had doubts. He tried dating with a woman on the advice of his tutor, and he also tried "straightening treatment."
Straightening treatment is to tell you that you want to behave yourself and hate yourself.
Pastor Weiye Peng, Keene House
Straightening treatment is like training a dog
Joe pointed out that it was a "behavioral therapy" similar to training a dog-whenever he thought of a man and "feeling", he would use an elastic band on his hand, "It's like asking you to sit, don't you sit" Just call you." Try to use pain to make "patients" resist the same sex.
Although Joe was "receiving treatment" in Malaysia, it was actually very popular in many places in the 1980s and 1990s. Many books in Hong Kong and Taiwan also advocated straight treatment. It still exists today, but it has changed its appearance. In the course of the year, "Either you have a problem with your original family, you want to hold a man because you lack the love of your father, or you have a ghost."
"It's like asking you to sit, and if you don't sit, you will power you up." Joe said, "Straightening treatment" is like training a dog.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
"Straightforward treatment is just like telling you that you want to behave yourself and hate yourself." Joe said that for a long time this will make homosexuals very distorted. He will give sharing lectures from time to time. Whenever he asks who has ever had After suicidal thoughts, most people would raise their hands. "10% of people don’t raise their hands. It’s considered good." But there are more similar cases in the epidemic. "He is so afraid of isolation and shocking him to stay in a house. I like myself, so I find it difficult to spend time with myself." In response to attacks from the "Mingkosha" that opposes homosexual sex and legal same-sex marriages, Joe deliberately opened the "Shinkosha" to promote self-acceptance and oppose straight-forward treatment. .
There are still churches and anti-comrades who speak out, which will teach you the wrong way. TVB wants to make a gay show and the last point is not possible?
The point is that Zhong is opposed?
Pastor Weiye Peng, Keene House
The gay friendly church repeatedly accepts offensive words: Satan’s son
Most of the traditional churches are opposed to comrades, and no one will say "God loves comrades" in a high-profile manner, and even more so, they will regard gay faithful as heretics.
The Keene House to which Joe belongs is a church formed by a group of gay Christians in Hong Kong in 1992. He revealed that in the early stage, in order to protect the gays in the church, the church members had to go through interviews before joining; and because of fear of discrimination, initially The church members will not disclose the address of the church. Over the years, the church has received attacks on Facebook and emails from time to time, calling church members "Son of Satan", "spreading AIDS," etc. "When the society is transparent, the church will not admit it," Apart from lack of resources and relying on yourself, the biggest problem is the inner psychology."
From the initial interviews before joining, and the faithful reluctant to disclose the church address, there is no longer any threshold. Joe pointed out that the gays in Keene’s house have undergone great changes and growth in their physical and mental bodies.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
Joe revealed that although half of the people in the church have not yet come out, in the past 30 years, he has seen gays and lesbians have made great progress in their inner growth and self-confidence. There is no longer any threshold to join the Keene House. You can also find it on Google Map. "Even if you are in the opposite direction, you will talk to you at most." Recently, a seminary teacher brought students to talk to Joe. He believes that the social atmosphere has indeed changed. "You won’t be bold enough to say that you are really guilty and have no problem, but I have already understood it well. Before, I was not bold enough to talk to us."
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Conflicts between comrades and anti-comrades must "surface"
"Hong Kong has not had a gay movie series for happy ending for many years, and finally "Uncle's Love" appeared...The atmosphere in Hong Kong seems to be right. It's easy to swallow, and it doesn't feel dark." Past TV and movies Comrades are always linked to the image of drug abuse, jumping from buildings, etc. The TV series "Uncle's Love" has been watched by the whole city and comforted the LGBT community. However, Joe believes that this welcome atmosphere is just an illusion. "There are still churches and anti-comrades. Voices will teach you the wrong way. TVB wants to make a gay show. The final point is to solve it. Why is it that the Zhong family is opposed?" He believes that the social atmosphere changes "how much more", and the conflict between gays and anti-comrades is also the same. It should come to the surface to discuss, "Kean House does everything on its own every Sunday so that it goes smoothly, and the other party keeps up with it and continues to oppose it. In fact, there is no progress."
Homosexuals are disadvantaged. People don’t speak out against you. You are called Zhanfan...You are heterosexual but you are the same, you should all "come out".
Pastor Weiye Peng, Keene House
Joe believes that the conflict between comrades and anti-comrades should "surpass the surface." The society no longer avoids talking about comrades, and both sides can make progress.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
And when most people in society are ready, talking about legislation and actual rights and interests will get twice the result with half the effort. "A lot of them are done from top to bottom, so even if the law is established, it is useless." Joe cited India as an example. , Pointed out that all the high-levels in the local churches support gays, but the lower-levels oppose them. "If the pastors are all opposed to the same, they will still suppress the faithful." He also pointed out that the LGBT equality process in the United States and Taiwan took decades. Over time, there are strong anti-community opinions, and they will even beat and kill comrades, but they are highlighting their unreasonableness. "Of course we don’t need to, but if there are more voices in the society, we can look at the world. It's a bit stupid for him to oppose the same thing."
Heterosexuals should "come out" to support gays
When asked what constitutes an ideal LGBT-friendly society, Joe pointed out that he hopes most people can take the initiative to show that they support the same. ...You are heterosexual, but you support the same, you should all "come out." He believes that nowadays, heterosexuals who support gay will be criticized, but it should not be a reason for deterrence. He also pointed out that gays have not captured The welfare of heterosexuals can coexist with traditional family concepts, conjugal system, fertility issues, etc. "If there is a marriage system in human society, then everyone should have a marriage system." He emphasized that all comrades want is "fairness". ", "Homosexuals really want to get married? Heterosexuals don’t want to get married. We just want to be treated fairly, I just want to be personal."
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