Hong Kong Elects Gay Councilman Jimmy Sham as Several Raging Homophobes Lose Races in Broad Pro-Democracy Win
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says she’ll reflect after a massive pro-Democracy vote in the first elections since the wave of protests against Beijing started, the BBC reports: “Seventeen of the 18 district councils are now controlled by pro-democracy councillors, according to local media. The election, the first since the wave of anti-Beijing protests began, saw an unprecedented turnout of more than 71%.”
Openly gay Jimmy Sham is elected #HongKong district councilman. He campaigned, seen here with me, using a cane after two attacks. Brazenly homophobic incumbents such as Holden Chow, Dominic Lee, Junius Ho & Vincent Cheng all lost their seats. What a day! #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/Nmb2w8AVMy
— Ray Chan (@ray_slowbeat) November 24, 2019
One of those winners was Jimmy Sham, the openly gay leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, an umbrella group of pro-democracy organizations,, who was attacked by a group of men with hammers during the campaign and still walks on crutches.
The NYT reports: “Ray Chan, a pro-democracy lawmaker who is gay, celebrated the victory of Mr. Sham, who is also gay, on a day that several establishment politicians who had opposed same-sex marriage and made homophobic comments had lost their district council races. Mr. Sham said that his own victory in the district race reflected a broader yearning for civic freedoms. ‘We are trying to listen to the demands of the people and to fight for their rights,’ he said.”
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