Locally :
In 1842
In 1861
In 1901
In 1979
In 1980
In 1989
In 1990
In 1991
In 1992
In 2006
In 2008
In 2009
In 2012
In 2014
In 2019
In 1842
In 1842, Homosexuality is criminalised when Hong Kong becomes a British colony, mirroring laws of the United Kingdom.
In 1861
In 1861, Offences against the Person Act is introduced, including “unnatural offences” such as sodomy and bestiality, and criminalises sex between men but not between women.
In 1901
In 1901, Sodomy between two men is made punishable by a maximum life sentence.
In 1979
In 1979, A petition with 424 signatures is presented to the government urging decriminalisation of sex between two consenting same-sex adults.
In 1980
Governor Murray MacLehose commissions a report to look into whether homosexuality laws should be changed. Gay Hong Kong policeman John MacLennan is found dead aged 29 with gunshot wounds in what’s said to be a suicide on the morning he is due to be arrested by the police unit charged with investigating gay men. The investigation concluded that MacLennan killed himself because he feared arrest.
In 1989
The Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film festival is held for the first time. To date, it is the longest-running LGBT film festival in Asia.
In 1990
In 1990, AIDS Concern was established.
In 1991
In 1991, homosexual behaviors are decriminalised by the voting of the Legislative Council. Sex between consenting males over the age of 21 is decriminalised, 24 years after the UK and one year after the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its International Classification of Diseases.
In 1992
In 1992, Famous actor and singer Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing comes out as bisexual, saying, “It’s easy for me to love a woman. It’s also easy for me to love a man too.” (Five years later, he announced his relationship with Daffy Tong Hok-tak, despite local prejudices towards the LGBT community persisting.)
In 2006
In 2006, The unequal ages of consent (16 for heterosexual relationships and 21 for men in gay relationships) was found unconstitutional, and the age of consent for homosexual relationships was amended to also be 16.
In 2008
In 2008, the first Pride Parade in Hong Kong is held, with close to 1,000 participants walking from Great George Street in Causeway Bay to Southorn Playground in Wan Chai. The theme is “Celebrate Love”.
In 2009
In 2009, same-sex cohabitation is protected within the Domestic and Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance Cap.189.
In 2012
In 2012, At the Pride Parade, pop singer Denise Ho Wan-Sze becomes the first mainstream female musician in Hong Kong to come out, and Ray Chan Chi-Chuen is the first openly gay lawmaker to be elected in Hong Hong.
In 2014
In 2014, the government officially promotes to amend the legal consent age of anal sex to 16 years old in the Crimes Ordinance, the amendment is passed in the same year.
In 2019