June, 2005

'Turn Fear into Love' - The First International Day against Homophobia

Rose Wu

At the beginning of this year, the Home Affairs Bureau informed the community that since it had been 10 years since the government conducted the last survey on sexual orientation the government believed it is appropriate to conduct a telephone survey of about 2,000 people to gauge their attitudes towards homosexuals and to examine possible legislation against discrimination based on sexual orientation. While sexual minorities see the legislation as a necessary step towards equal opportunities, Christian and family concern groups believe it will unleash a dangerous tide of tolerance and upset society's fundamental family values.

On April 29, the Hong Kong Alliance for the Family published a statement in the Ming Pao Daily expressing their fear and concern about the government's intention to introduce an anti-discrimination bill on sexual orientation as the Church and those who are against homosexual acts would face reverse discrimination. The statement, occupying four full pages of the newspaper, contained the names of more than 374 groups as well as 9,800 individuals. They argued that such legislation would offer special protection to sexual minorities, not human rights.

At the same time, the Society for Truth and Light, the Sex Culture Society and the alliance launched a "One Person, One Letter" campaign to ensure that their disapproval of such legislation registers with the government. Their campaign material has been sent to all schools, social centres and other organisations. Thousands of letters have been sent to the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Home Affairs Bureau and the chief executive's office.

Conflicts between the two camps heightened when gay and lesbian activists protested at a Mongkok bookstore because the bookstore owner dumped hundreds of their publications that were meant for free distribution.

I think the underlying cause of this problem between some Christians and sexual minorities in Hong Kong is rooted in the ideological imprisonment of Christianity by those who claim they are right and tend to champion authoritarian relationships with those whom they judge to be wrong.

First of all, this ideology is problematic as those who maintain this attitude hold on to a belief of faith, consciously or unconsciously, that is based on denying their fear of the other, the different and the stranger. Because of this denial, it is easy for them to imagine the different "other" as their potential "enemy" rather than as their friend. Our fear of difference, of course, is part of human nature. However, it is critically important at this spiritual juncture whether we will grow more compassionate of the needs of the other or slip further away from our neighbours.

Secondly, there is a danger for Christians to prove that God is all powerful and omnipotent, for the terror of a powerful God allows some people the power to claim that their god is absolute and eternal and are commissioned to teach their religious beliefs as unquestionable dogma while others, meanwhile, are obligated to humbly recognise and accept their own ignorance. What we need is to know that God is with us, that God understands our pain and suffering just like our friend. To leave behind the powerful and highly patriarchal, hierarchical, individualistic and class-biased understanding of God is an essential step to liberate humanity from our terror of God and others.

Thirdly, the right vs. wrong dualistic worldview adopts an absolutist way of understanding things. It separates the spiritual and the physical realms and polarises them against each other. Under this logic, spirit is opposed to body with spirit assumed to be higher and superior and the body lower and inferior. A resistance to ambiguity has developed, and our conceptual worlds have became colonised with an emphasis on dichotomies, such as male/female, heterosexual/homosexual, black/white, good/bad, right/wrong.

To seek liberation, we must move beyond the simplistic dichotomy of right vs. wrong and explore alternative ways of thinking that move beyond the dualistic framework of the right-wrong binary paradigm. If we do not do so, any theory will only reinforce the presumption of stable identities and continue the problems of binary categories instead of transforming unjust power structures of colonialism, racism, patriarchalism, heterosexism and many other "isms."

What are the alternative interpretations of human sexuality which can lead to the true liberation of men and women?

Based on the pervasive fear of sex and homosexuality within the Church, the first point I want to propose is for the Church to construct a sexual theology which connects sexual relations with justice-making. In order to do this, we must shift our ethic of control to an ethic of solidarity and transform the binary logic of either/or to a trinitarian logic of relationship based on freedom, love and justice.

In order to liberate us from the dualistic logic of "right" and "wrong," we should shift our discussion of sexual ethics from "act-centred" to "relation-centred." Because sex is not just a simple genital activity, it signals the fact that we are not isolated islands of embodiment but are created to embrace others in relationship.

To conclude this article, I want to highlight a recent event in Hong Kong which I hope will bring a glimpse of hope to the reconciliation between the Christian community and sexual minorities in Hong Kong. On May 17, 1990, the World Health Organisation (WHO) removed homosexuality from their list of mental disorders. In commemoration of this historic decision, an international lesbian and gay association urged communities around the world to recognise this day by organising activities to raise people's awareness towards homophobia. With the goal of promoting an environment that embraces diversity, Hong Kong held its first International Day against Homophobia parade on May 16. A crowd of 350, wearing feathered masks and waving rainbow flags, chanted: "Turn fear into love," "eliminate homophobia," respect for diversity." I hope this message will inspire more Christians to understand that the purpose of God's Creation is not to mould everyone into being the same; rather, God's purpose is to teach us to love and care for one another and to appreciate our differences.