Mr. Gay Hong Kong 2010: Against school bullying
Mr. Gay Hong Kong 2010 finalists. Vote for your favorite one on www.mrgayhongkong.com.This year’s Mr. Gay Hong Kong pageant (MGHK) will do more than show off six of the city’s most eligible gay men.
With the support of local equal rights advocacy group, the Tongzhi Community Joint Meeting (TCJM), MGHK aims to give voice to victims of homophobic bullying in schools across Hong Kong.
Some think this will make us an open target by upsetting parents. But you know what? We’re not doing it for them. We’re doing it for the kids. — James Gannaban
The team behind the pageant, which will be held in Hong Kong for the second time on November 26, solicited true stories from young gay men and women who were bullied during their time at school. The winner of story competition was Aqua Chiu. It was written from the perspective of a teacher who observed a student being bullied by homophobic peers. The story will be revealed at the pageant's grand finals tonight at Hyde.
“MGHK certainly has the profile and the fun image to keep the message positive and affirming,” says James Gannaban, the executive producer of MGHK. He recognizes, however, that the decision to peg such a weighty issue to a traditionally light-hearted event does not sit well with some.
“It’s quite controversial even within the gay community, “he reveals, “Some think this will make us an open target by upsetting parents. But you know what? We’re not doing it for them. We’re doing it for the kids.”
Through this year’s pageant, Gannaban aims to galvanize a serious effort to help Hong Kong’s vulnerable gay teens. It is a “risky and tedious” battle to reach out to local pupils, he says, in part because of strong opposition from many schools’ religious benefactors.
Nigel Collett, Joint English Secretary for the TCJM, adds that some of the challenges they face are deeply rooted. There is, he says, a “lack of awareness in schools, in the Education Department, in the Hong Kong Government and across society [about homophobic bullying].”
The campaign will also have to confront “fear on the part of the bullied students in revealing their plight and asking for help.” Collett points to recent international surveys that have revealed “alarming levels of bullying in schools.”
He says, “Bullied students need to be empowered to seek assistance. Without their voices being heard, no one will take any action.” The campaign’s long-term goals, explains Collett, are “to persuade the Government to regulate all Hong Kong schools to combat homophobic bullying, instituting systems to deal with it, [such as] appropriate training for school teachers and counsellors.”
To achieve them, he says, TCJM will seek to initiate a peer-reviewed academic survey by a Hong Kong university to examine the problem and reveal its extent within the territory. In a show of solidarity for the children they aim to defend, MGHK contestants Kevin Li, Alan Wong, Leandro Hau, Heihei Yau, Simon Scanlon Cheung and Muse Lam will wear school uniform costumes for the first part of the pageant.
The six men will go on to compete in categories such as ‘Swimwear’, ‘Formal Wear’ and ‘Interview’ for the title of Mr. Gay Hong Kong and the chance to represent the city at Mr. Gay World in Manila next year. Last year’s winner, Rick Twombley, placed third overall at the international finals in Oslo in February.
Gannaban admits the costumes are “a little bit sensational, kind of like the way Greenpeace people dress up as blue-fin tuna," but he rejects the idea of launching the anti-bullying campaign quietly.
“We either go big or go home. We want to make an impact. We want to say the boys and girls directly, ‘you are not alone, this happened to us too.’”
