Hong Kong murders prompt discussion over reporting on LGBTQ issues

In a recent attack that shocked and saddened Hong Kong, a lesbian couple, the 22-year-old Fong Hiu-tung (方曉彤 Fāng Xiǎotóng) and 26-year-old Lau Kai-hei (劉繼禧 Liú Jìxǐ), were stabbed to death by a 39-year-old man named Szeto Sing-kwong (司徒成光 Sītú Chéngguāng).

The incident happened on June 2 at the Hollywood Plaza mall in Diamond Hill. The two victims were talking to each other in the mall when the assailant approached from behind and stabbed one of them repeatedly with a 12-inch knife. The other woman tried to intervene before also being attacked. The two women died after being taken to the hospital. Szeto was arrested at the scene.

According to local police, before launching the attack, Szeto — who was unemployed and had a long history of mental illness — purchased the knife in the same mall and wandered around for several minutes. A preliminary investigation found “no concrete evidence” to suggest that Szeto knew the women. The attack was likely a random act, police concluded.

Sources close to the matter told the South China Morning post that Szeto was hospitalized in 2020 for schizophrenia, while authorities said that he had received treatment at a public specialist outpatient clinic at a psychiatric hospital in the city.

In a court hearing on June 8, Szeto was accused of two counts of murder. The case was adjourned for the defendant to undergo psychiatric examination to determine whether he would be fit for a plea due to his mental health condition. According to local news reports on the latest court hearing on June 19, Szeto was evaluated as fit to plead by psychiatrists. The magistrate called for another adjournment of the case until October 9. The suspect will stay in custody for police investigation during the period.

In a city where violent acts are rare, the incident has sent major shockwaves among locals and officials. The Hong Kong Chief Executive, John Lee Ka-chiu (李家超 Lǐ Jiāchāo), expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and vowed to improve the mental health services in the city by implementing a series of measures, including an increase of police patrol in heavily populated areas and a systematic review of the medical procedures of psychiatric services. But to assuage people’s concerns about safety, Lee stressed that the incident was an “individual case” and that the city remained a safe place.

The women were initially described as a pair of “friends,” but subsequent media reports revealed that they were a same-sex couple that had been living together for months prior to the incident. The 22-year-old Fong was working as a waitress in a restaurant, and the 26-year-old Lau was a professional stylist with a part-time job in a bar, where she and Fong first met. On the day of the attack, the couple were going to have dinner with Fong’s family to celebrate a relative’s birthday.

According to an article published on G Dot TV (G點電視), a Hong Kong-based online news portal marketed to the local LGBTQ community, some newspapers avoided mentioning the two victims’ lesbian relationship by characterizing them as “same-sex close friends” (同性密友 tóngxìng mìyǒu). Some of the articles about the attack also said they were from “broken families” (破碎家庭 pòsuì jiātíng).

Dr. Lucetta Kam (金曄路 Jīn Yèlù), a scholar of gender studies at Hong Kong Baptist University,  has criticized the omission of the victims’ sexuality in local reporting. “Overall, Hong Kong media has been quite ‘reserved’ in their coverage about the case, without too many mentions of the victims’ sexuality or gender expression other than pointing out that one of them was a masculine-looking short-haired woman,” Kam wrote in an article published on Initium Media (端传媒), a Singapore-based, Chinese-language digital media outlet. In her piece, Kam also raised the possibility of the murders being a hate crime against “TB (tomboy)-looking” women.

Kam’s arguments were met with mixed reactions. In the comment section of the article, some readers applauded it for highlighting an often-neglected perspective, but many others dismissed it as far-fetched speculation. “This is a random killing. Our focus should be on the assailant’s mental health. Why should we focus so much on the victims’ sexuality?” one person commented.

“Is it possible that the lack of attention on the victims’ sexuality from the mass media and the public is a good thing?… I feel that the author is imposing the context of LGBT people in the foreign countries onto the situation of Hong Kong. Personal safety is not a major concern for the local LGBT group,” another wrote.

In an email interview, Kam told The China Project that she understood arguments made on both sides regarding ethics issues in reporting LGBTQ issues. “My argument is not that the media have to put the spotlight on the victims’ sexuality or gender appearance, what I want to stress is why we (not only the media but also the LGBTQ+ community in Hong Kong) are so silent on this very obvious and visible factor?” Kam added. “Even some ‘positive’ details about the lovers are not reported at all, such as how one of them risked her life to save her girlfriend during the attack. This collective silence is something I found worrying.”

Another aspect of the news that frustrated Kam was the discourse around “random killing,” which she thought overshadowed a potential public discussion about discrimination against LGBTQ people. “I think people in general overlook the hostility in Hong Kong society towards lesbian women and butch looking women,” she said.

Dr. Jia Tan (谭佳 Tán Jiā), a scholar of media studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, shared the same speculation. “None of the reports I have read has raised the reasonable doubt that this specific case may be a hate crime against lesbians or masculine/androgynous women,” she told The China Project. “Why did the perpetrator pick a tom boy-looking woman as the main target? It is a valid question to ask.”

“The missing angle on possible crimes targeting queer people should also be understood in a larger context of a society that is not sensitive enough on extreme physical violence against women, including queer women,” Tan added. She compared the attack to a gruesome murder that horrified Hong Kong earlier this year, where Abby Choi (蔡天鳳 Cài Tiānfèng), a 28-year-old socialite and mother of four, was killed and dismembered by her ex-husband and his family. “The reportages tended to focus on the victim’s background as a social media influencer, as well as money disputes. Not much news report mentions from the angle of misogyny and femicide.” Tan stressed that it’s imperative for local newsrooms to enhance “training on inclusive news reporting for journalist professionals” and for the government to strength “public education on gender and sexuality issues.”

“Moreover, none of the discussions on mental health issues mentioned support on LGBTQ community. Because of minority stress in a heteronormative society, LGBTQ individuals face more pressure and tend to have a higher depression rate,” she added. “Reading the news of the tragedy in Diamond Hill may also make lesbians and queer individuals feel threatened and trigger their past experiences of homophobia. Thus, it is important to call for more mental health support to LGBTQ individuals.”

Other LGBTQ stories:

A conference on LGBTQ affirmative therapy was held in Hong Kong (G Dot TV)

Society of True Light (真光社 zhēnguāng shè) organized a conference on LGBTQ affirmative therapy at the Hong Kong University, the first of its kind in the city. The event attracted more than 250 attendants including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and government staff. The society is dedicated to opposing “conversion therapy” and promoting recognition of LGBTQ people in Hong Kong.

‘Attention-seeking’ Chinese trans woman who accused flight attendant of improper pronoun use gets online criticism, social media ban (South China Morning Post)

A 17-year-old Chinese trans woman has faced criticism online after sharing a video in which she claimed to be treated unfairly by a flight attendant who did not address her by the proper pronoun. The video also shows the repeated apologies from the flight attendant and the person’s forgiveness. Internet users later found the same trans woman was detained by the police due to accessing a public women’s bathhouse earlier this year. Subsequent criticism and controversy led to her account being banned by Weibo.

For China’s LGBTQ community, safe spaces are becoming harder to find (NBC News)

“The Beijing LGBT Center is the latest to shut down amid a crackdown on advocacy groups by Chinese President Xi Jinping.”

Head of Chinese consulate in Osaka stirs controversy after derogatory LGBTQ tweet (The Japan Times)

“A tweet by Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xuē Jiàn 薛剑 earlier this week in which he described transgender people as being ‘deformed’ has stirred controversy, with commenters saying the post is discriminatory against sexual minorities.”

Queer China is our fortnightly round-up of news and stories related to China’s sexual and gender minority population.