Another Pink Dot In Hong Kong And Change Is Coming: Slowly.

A year ago, he didn’t want to hold my hand. I would reach out to touch his, and he would withdraw it. He was shy and still is a bit. This year, in a sea of pink shirts, he would hold my hand for a bit- not long. A year ago I knew a lot of people, and he knew none. This year he knew a few more, and he wanted to meet up with them. A lot has changed from last year’s Pink Dot.

The Pink Dot is a picnic and free concert held by friends of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, and Intersex community. It is a way to show support for the community's quest for diversity, inclusiveness and the freedom to love. It began in Singapore, but Hong Kong held its first Pink Dot on June 15, 2014, with 12,000 people showing up. This year, over 15,500 people had shown up as of 6 pm last night, with more streaming in as the free concert was about to start.

Since the last Pink Dot, the United States and Ireland joined the other 18 countries in recognizing same-sex marriage. Caitlyn Jenner and the Netflix program Orange Is The New Black have raised awareness of transgender issues. Hong Kong is not keeping up with the rest of the world, but it is being pushed by forces both inside and outside through the courts.

The outside push is inescapable because of Hong Kong’s need to attract the most talented workers. Some of them may be from the LGBTI community. Corporations understand this. Most of the shirts at today’s Pink Dot bore the names of HSBC, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank, Google, and the list goes on. Cities like Beijing will provide a spousal visa to an LGBTI spouse to attract talent. Hong Kong will not.

A woman is suing the immigration department to secure the right to remain in Hong Kong with her wife. QT and SS, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were married in England and then moved to Hong Kong in 2011 after SS was offered a job. QT applied for a spousal visa, which would have allowed her to live and work in Hong Kong, but her application was denied.

The couple has sued the Department on the grounds their marriage should be treated like any other marriage. The Registrar of the High Court has given notice that the judgment in the case will be handed down at the end of November. It would have been easier if QT and SS had moved to Beijing or somewhere else rather than coming here.

There will be more court cases to force the government to recognize the notion of equality enshrined in the Basic Law. Dr. York Chow Yat-ngok, the chairperson of the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), is right to explain that Hongkongers must not bury the debate on same-sex marriage. "To Hong Kong, same-sex marriage is an inescapable issue,” he said in June of this year.

I cannot see a day when I will be walking down the street holding my love’s hand, mostly because he is too shy. I can see a day where I will have the chance to marry him and have the same rights as all Hong Kongers.