New head of Hong Kong’s Equal Opportunities Commission to start drive to tackle anti-LGBT discrimination later this year
- Ricky Chu says he intends to add protections to existing laws and defends comments that dismayed marriage-equality activists
- Lawmaker Ray Chan says he thinks Chu’s piecemeal reforms will meet the same opposition from conservatives and calls for change of tack
The new head of Hong Kong’s equality watchdog aims to kick-start his unconventional plan to tackle discrimination against sexual minorities this year, the self-proclaimed pragmatist told the Pos t, as he shrugged off recent concerns over his controversial radio remarks.
Ricky Chu Man-kin, who took over at the helm of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) in April, said the new approach would involve inserting protections into existing laws rather than advocating for one overarching legislation, as in the past.
The former director of investigation at the Independent Commission Against Corruption said his “strategies” and change of course were motivated by the deep-seated social divide and the government’s lack of action, which has prompted him to bring about change one step at a time.
It has long been the city’s approach that each area of discrimination is regulated by one piece of legislation.
The commission was established in 1996 to enforce four discrimination ordinances covering family status, disability, race and gender. But Hong Kong is still lacking legislation to protect sexual minorities from bias and prejudice.
