Thousands of revelers joined Hong Kong’s annual LGBT Pride parade and march on Saturday.
According to the AFP, roughly 10,000 revelers joined this year’s event. Police estimated the crowd at 2,000.
While gay sex has been legal in Hong Kong since 1991, the city does not recognize same-sex couples and the LGBT community has limited protections against discrimination.
Revelers gathered at 2 PM in Victoria Park and marched through the streets of Hong Kong waving rainbow flags as they made their way to Edinburgh Place in front of City Hall, where they listened to performers and heard speeches.
This year’s theme was “Turn the tide; walk with pride. Discrimination says goodbye.”
A 14-year-old activist who identified herself as Morgan told the AFP that she didn’t think Hong Kong was ready to accept equal rights but remained optimistic about the future.
“There are many people with traditional mindsets here, so for the LGBT community many people should … start speaking out for themselves or else there will be no freedom and we won’t have our own rights. I think many people now, especially the youngsters, are starting to support this and because they’re the future of our society I think we should be optimistic,” she said.
Hong Kong held its first official Pride parade in 2008.
by On Top Magazine Staff
Source – On Top Magazine
