Express to empower LGBT+ people

This event co-organised by the Consulate General of France and the European Union Office in Hong Kong and Macao, aims to discuss the spaces of emancipation for LGBT+ individuals within an intercultural context, bringing together experiences from France and Hong Kong. It will explore the tools available for LGBT+ expression on the path to equality.

While France has progressively enshrined LGBT+ rights in law—such as marriage equality, adoption rights, and protection against discrimination—Hong Kong presents a more complex and evolving landscape. In recent years, the city has seen increasing public awareness, heightened activism, and several court decisions that have advanced the visibility and rights of LGBT+ individuals, creating fertile ground for dialogue. How do individuals and communities assert their space, visibility, and power to act in environments where institutional support varies? What strategies emerge when legal protections are incomplete? Conversely, how do legal advancements translate into everyday social acceptance?

Beyond legal and institutional dimensions, the conversation will also examine the roles of education, media, and civil society in shaping attitudes and creating inclusive environments. The event seeks not only to foster mutual understanding between France and Hong Kong but also to inspire transnational solidarity and collective reflection on the meaning of empowerment – “power to act” (pouvoir agir) in various contexts.

Time: 29/11/2025 15:00 – 20:00
Location: Soho House, 33 Des Voeux Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Please click here to register.

Programme

14:30 – Registration opens
15:00 – Opening remarks and Screening of award-winning LGBT+ movie Front Cover
16:45 – Post-screening discussion with film director Ray Yeung and Prof Marco Wan (HKU)
17:45 – Panel discussion between Prof Arnaud Alessandrin (Université de Bordeaux), Beatrix Pang of the Queer Reads Library, artist-activist Holok Chen. Moderation by Prof Lucetta Kam (HKBU)
18:45 – Open-mic session (members of the audience are welcome to share their thoughts on stage in any preferred forms, including but not limited to music, slam poetry, short act in under 5 minutes).

Speakers

Arnaud Alessandrin
Arnaud is a sociologist with a PhD from the University of Bordeaux, where he currently teaches gender sociology and discrimination. He has authored numerous books and articles on transgender identities, gender, and homophobia, and serves as the editor of the journal “Miroir / Miroirs.” From 2019 to 2023, he was a member of the scientific council of DILCRAH (Interministerial Delegation for the Fight Against Racism, Antisemitism, and Anti-LGBT Hate).

Ray Yeung
Ray Yeung is a Hong Kong filmmaker with four feature films to his credit. His most recent work, All Shall Be Well, premiered at the 2024 Berlinale International Film Festival, where it received the Teddy Award for Best Feature and secured third place in the Panorama Audience Award. Prior to this, his feature film Suk Suk (also known as Twilight’s Kiss) premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2019 and was subsequently showcased at Berlinale in 2020.

Marco Wan
Marco Wan is Professor of Law and Director of the Programme in Law and Literary Studies at the University of Hong Kong, specialising in LGBT+ texts and cinema.. He writes and teaches in law and humanities; constitutional law; law, gender, and sexuality; and legal theory. He is currently working on an essay focused on bisexuality, often overlooked within the community.

Lucetta Kam
Lucetta Kam is an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her research focuses on queer migration, tongzhi communities, and queer popular culture in East Asia.

HoloK Chen
HoLoK was the former impact strategist of Eaton HK where they discovered their inner alien. The gender-neutral persona takes inspiration from sci-fi and circus performers, expressing a profound sense of loss and sadness. HoLoK was the former impact strategist of Eaton HK where they discovered their inner alien. The gender-neutral persona takes inspiration from sci-fi and circus performers, expressing a profound sense of loss and sadness.

Beatrix Pang
Beatrix Pang (they/them) is a Hong Kong-based visual artist, cultural producer, and independent publisher. They founded Small Tune Press, publishing artists’ books and anthologies like Ingat (2024) and Between Wor(l)ds (2025) to platform migrant worker and refugee voices. Pang co-founded community initiatives including ZINE COOP (2017), Queer Reads Library (2018), and the Migrant Workers’ Library (2024), focusing on archival practices and underrepresented narratives. They received the LOEWE Foundation x Studio Voltaire Award (2023-2024), supporting a London residency to advance their research in publishing and community-engaged art. Queer Reads Library (2018-) operates in the multi-disciplinary practices: running in a mobile format with curated printed materials, queer archiving, researching on queer visual culture, engaging workshops and producing zines as documentation of dialogues, ideas and resistance. The libraries are currently located in Hong Kong by Beatrix Pang, and in Vancouver (Canada) by Rachel Lau. They made spaces for the queer community to gather, celebrate their stories, and explore diverse printed materials, with the aim of connecting with and engaging queer Asian individuals across continents.

Co-organized by:

Partners and sponsors: