'Ensure Workplace Protection For LGBT People In HK'

The Hong Kong government has been urged to put in place legal protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, after the US Supreme Court banned this type of bias in a landmark ruling.

Professor Suen Yiu-tung from the Chinese University's Sexualities Research Programme said mandatory workplace protections would be a good place to start given there's public support for the idea and businesses are already taking steps to protect their LGBT employees.

Suen said that research shows that LGBT people in the SAR face unfriendly attitudes from bosses and colleagues and may even be denied jobs, and that this may be more common in sectors like education and healthcare, with interviewees telling him that coming out would be "career suicide".

However, his research has shown that support for protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is quite high, and that earlier this year, a study he carried out showed that opposition to this kind of protection has dropped to "a historical low" of 12 percent.

Suen said: "I think there is a lot for the Hong Kong government to consider that; first, already business organisations are saying that they consider equality and diversity including protect for LGBT people very important, they already support the idea against discrimination in the workplace, and second, actually the public already supportive of such public policy."

He told RTHK's Richard Pyne: "The government has to answer why they are not responsive to both the general public, the LGBT community as well as the business community."