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EOC Responds to Media Enquiries

23/07/2019

In response to media enquiries about the petitions of several groups at the Office of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) on 19 July 2019 to express disapproval of the Legislator, the Hon CHIANG Lai-wan, for sharing a video with derogative remarks regarding the sexual orientation of SHAM Tsz-kit, Convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front and writing, “Important News! Spread the word!” on her Facebook page, the EOC has the following response:

1. The EOC has received several enquiries and complaints about the Hon CHIANG Lai-wan’s Facebook post. After assessing the relevant complaints, the EOC has decided that the incident is not covered under the prescribed areas of the four anti-discrimination ordinances that are currently in place, including the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, the Disability Discrimination Ordinance, the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance, and the Race Discrimination Ordinance. Thus, the EOC is unable to follow up on the incident and handle the complaints.

2. Although the EOC has no jurisdiction to handle the complaints about the Facebook post, the EOC considers that the video was inappropriate, though not unlawful, and that when expressing an opinion, one should focus on the matter at hand, rather than invoke irrelevant factors, such as a person’s sexual orientation.

3. The EOC is staunchly against all forms of discrimination and firmly believes that everyone should have equal opportunities regardless of gender, race, disability, family status, age or sexual orientation. The EOC will continue to work towards building a pluralistic and inclusive society, and to promote equal opportunities in Hong Kong. We hope to build a society that is based on inclusion, respect, love, care and harmony.

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Equal Opportunities Commission

23 July 2019