Hong Kong independent publisher Beatrix Pang, who co-founded a mobile library to advocate for queer inclusivity and visibility, is exploring ways to transform solidarity with the LGBTQ community into an “everyday” practice.
One of those ways was the Queer Reads Friends Market, which Pang put on at the Eaton HK hotel on June 29 and was among many Pride Month events held in Hong Kong. More than 10 publishers and allies of Pang’s Queer Reads Library (QRL) showcased zines, photobooks, postcards and other products to celebrate sexual minorities and their decades-long struggle to achieve equality.
Pang, who identifies as non-binary, told HKFP that they had noticed some members of Hong Kong’s LGBTQ community had become less active in recent years. This “quietness” stirred up a sense of unease in the publisher, they said, as it was in stark contrast to the vibrant LGBTQ community they experienced during a 12-month artist residency at Studio Voltaire in London last year.
“When I was in London, it was an everyday practice for people to meet friends through book fairs or zine festivals. How day-to-day is the solidarity of the LGBTQ community in Hong Kong? Do we only see each other during events and get together in June?” the publisher in their 40s said in a Cantonese interview.
In the hope of stimulating those interactions within Hong Kong’s queer community, Pang invited three Japanese publishers they had met at an overseas fair earlier this year. Hokkaido-born artist Kai, who began making over and over magazine with another creator in 2021, told HKFP they felt “uncomfortable” that mainstream Japanese magazines often left politics out of the discussion.
The queer community in Japan “lacked intersectionality,” the 26-year-old said, adding they wanted a new publication that would cover city culture, including fashion, music and environmental protection, from a “queer angle.”
Visiting Hong Kong for the first time, Kai said they were eager to observe the city and how its people connected with each other.
“Hong Kong seems to be suffocated… but I want to know what people are making,” said Kai, whose quotes were translated by an interpreter from Japanese to Cantonese.
Another Japanese creator Yuki brought copies of a zine featuring photos of traffic cones they encountered during their work as a bike messenger. They photoshopped the cones into the colours of pride flags and included pages to explain the meaning behind each one. The work was inspired the queer friends Yuki made during the pandemic, whose fight for equality the artist had great sympathy for, they said.
Graphic designer Yo Katami, 50, shared with HKFP a zine he had produced during the pandemic showcasing portraits of queer expatriates who were stranded in Japan because of Covid-19. Another publication he brought with him was a zine documenting an event last year that celebrated the LGBTQ community in East Asia, with a focus on the older generation.
There was a growing consensus in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in recent years of the importance of archiving the culture of the older queer community, Katami said.
“Some of these people are passing away. They really want to use publishing to preserve their memories and ideas for the next generation,” the graphic designer said in Japanese.
Facing what they described as a “shrinking space for expression” for sexual minorities, QLR co-founder Pang said they were lucky to have found a private venue that allowed her peers to gather and interact in person. They did not have to worry about the venue rental fee or acquiring the relevant license for the event, the publisher said.
Pang was referring to another Pride Month event that was originally scheduled to be held in a shopping mall on the same day as Pang’s market. But the organiser Gay Harmony had to call off the event after the government notified the group they did not have a licence to hold it.
Since 2008, Hong Kong organised annual pride parades, in which organisers led thousands of participants through the city’s streets with a huge rainbow flag. Different advocacy groups also marched with colourful banners and props to voice their demands, often urging the government to recognise and protect their rights.
But the annual event took the form of a rally instead of a march in 2019 amid citywide protests, and it became a virtual event in 2020 when Hong Kong was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Since 2021, the pride parade has been held indoors, with last year’s celebration featuring a pop-up exhibition that explored how the LGBTQ community could make their voices heard.
“It may sound like a cliché to say that ‘the journey of LGBT+ lives is akin to an uphill battle.’ However, considering the current situation in Hong Kong, is this journey becoming any easier? Or has it grown even more challenging?” Hong Kong Pride Parade wrote on its website.
Speaking to HKFP at the queer market, Eaton HK’s director of culture Joseph Chen told HKFP the hotel had sought to support different marginalised communities since it rebranded in 2018.
This year, the hotel rolled out a series of queer arts and cultural programmes between late May to mid-August in celebration of Pride Month. It did not want to give people an impression of “pinkwashing,” but rather engage in long-term initiatives to make any minority group feel safe to “do whatever they want” at Eaton HK, Chen said.
“I’m very glad that people trust us and feel safe here,” he said in Cantonese.
Some people in the queer community have begun to look up to the hotel as a “main stage,” a Cantonese phrase referring to central leadership.
But the Eaton HK executive said the hotel wanted to act as a “neutral venue provider” and allow LGBTQ groups to gather and build their own community.
“We are definitely not a main stage. We just want to make sure the events we support are diverse,” Chen said.
For publisher Pang and the QRL, their next move in bringing the queer community together is through a monthly gathering during which people are invited to sit down and read the library’s collection. The first meeting will be held at independent bookstore Art and Culture Outreach in Wan Chai on July 28.
“In this environment, nothing is more important than having the space, because communities need space,” Pang said.
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