Homophobia in Hong Kong

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Homophobiain Hong Kong

• Flip Sides of the Same Coin

Mark King Session 5 30 September 2009
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Homophobiain Hong Kong

• Flip Sides of the Same Coin

Mark King Session 4 30 September 2009
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Schedule http//web.hku.hk/sjwinter/CSB/session
s.htm

• Part A Girls becoming female, boys becoming
  male.
• 1. 02/09 Introduction to the course. Sex,
  gender and sexuality SW others
•  Part B Men growing up female, women growing up
  male.
• 2. 09/09    Growing up in the wrong body SW
  guest
• 3 16/09 Growing up transgendered in Asia SW
  guest
• Part C Men loving men. Women loving women.
• 4. 23/09 Homosexuality (I)  Introduction MK
• 5. 30/09 Homosexuality (II) Homophobia and
  discrimination MK HKW
• 6. 07/10 Gay and transgender rights  -  Human
  rights? MK guest
• Part D Breaking the mould? Breaking the law?
• 7. 21/10  Sensual magic, power exchange in
  relationships BS guest
• 8. 28/10  Sex, gender and commerce prostitution,
  phone-sex, BS, guest pornography and
  society
• 9. 04/11 Dressing up transvestism and
  drag BS, with SW
• 10. 11/11 Sex and the disabled BS
• 11. 18/11 From diversity to deviance from
  difference to disorder SW

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Todays topics

• Part A. Homosexuality Prejudice
• 5-minute Break
• Part B. Reparative Therapy
• Guest speaker Dr. Hong Kwai Wah

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What is homosexuality?

• Four different ways of answering the question
• Same-sex attraction
• Same-sex preference
• Same-sex sexual behaviour
• Identification (as homosexual, gay,
  lesbian, tongzhi etc)
  

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Homosexuality
Experiencing same-sex attraction
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Homosexuality
Experiencing same-sex attraction
Experiencing same-sex preference
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Homosexuality
Experiencing same-sex attraction
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Homosexuality
Experiencing same-sex attraction
Engaging in same-sex behaviour
Identifying as homosexual
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Questions about homosexuality

• Is it a choice?
• Is it unnatural?
• Is it based in biology?
• How do you know if your homosexual?
• Is it curable?

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If it is not curable, should homosexuality be
banned?
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Sexual StigmaWhat socially shared
knowledgedenigrates, discredits, and constructs
non-heterosexuality and gender non-conformity
as invalid relative to heteronormativity?
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Sexual PrejudiceWhy do some people have
negative attitudes towards non-heterosexual and
gender non-conforming people?
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Sexual prejudice in Hong Kong

• Home Affairs Bureau (2006) survey
• 42 believe h. people are not psychologically
  normal
• 50 believe a conflict between h. and family
  values
• 39 believe h. contradicts community morals
• 28 believe h. should not be teachers
• 51 found it unacceptable to have h. family
  members

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Sexual prejudice in HK medical students (2006)

• 34 h. immoral
• 36 avoid h. people wherever possible
• 14 contact with h. people would be harmful to
  children
• 19 not comfortable working with another student
  who is a h. person
• 29 h. people with AIDS deserve their fate
• 14 h. is a mental disorder

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What are the consequences of sexual prejudice?
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Internalized Prejudice

• Self-loathing
• Low self-esteem
• Feelings of inferiority
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Hopelessness
• Suicidal Ideation suicide
• Risk behaviors (sexual, substance use)

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BreakVideo Do Love Hotels Discriminate in Hong
Kong?
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What is Reparative Therapy?
What does it mean to be ex-gay?
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Reparative Therapy

• aka Conversion Therapy
• aka Reorientation therapy
• specific secular counseling technique involving
  helping a gay or lesbian bond in a close,
  intimate (but non-sexual) relationship with an
  adult member of the same gender
• Substitute for the bond between the client and
  their same-sex parent which therapists allege did
  not properly form during childhood
• helps gays and lesbians become heterosexual

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Reparative Therapy

• any formal attempt to change a person's sexual
  orientation
• typically from homosexual to heterosexual
• Conservative Christian transformational
  ministries to use prayer, religious conversion,
  one-on-one and group counseling, etc. to change a
  person's sexual orientation

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What is ex-gay?

• used to describe persons who were once GLB, but
  who no longer assert that identity
• ex-gay movement (people, support groups and
  organizations)
• reducing their ego-dystonic sexual orientation
• refrain from pursuing same-sex relationships
• develop heterosexual attractions
• enter into an opposite-sex relationship.

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Dr. Hong Kwai Wah ?????

• M.B.,B.S. (H.K.), M.R.C. PSYCH. (U.K.) FHKAM
  (Psychiatry), FHKC PSYCH.
• (Psychiatrist in private practice with a
  specialty in treating unwanted homosexuality)
• Board member of Truth and Light Society in Hong
  Kong.
• Founder and President of New Creation
  Association ??????
• Christian ministry to people struggling with
  unwanted same-sex-attraction, homosexuality