2021年6月18日
Brian Wong
EJ Insight
The conservative case for Gay Games
There is a dangerous temptation amongst some to frame conservative family values as ostensibly incompatible with the pursuit of any and all agenda or events deemed to be "progressive" in kind.
An example here could well be the 2022 Gay Games, which have drawn the ire and flak from select legislators, over the government's alleged endorsement of the values it espouses; the nature of the Games, and the fact that Hong Kong is apparently "yet to be ready" for one of the largest sporting events in the world.
So here's an alternative take. In the following, I make the "conservative" case for Gay Games – a case that conservatives should well be open to embracing, for it is undergirded by the very principles that underpin modern conservatism. The Gay Games should be held and supported – to the extent that it does not impose an excess burden upon Hong Kong's taxation and infrastructure (which it is highly unlikely to), on three distinct grounds (perfectly in line with social and economic conservatism):
1) The Gay Games will maximise Hong Kong's ability to capitalise upon its distinctive cultural comparative advantage;
2) The Games comprise an association of entirely consensual and voluntary individuals – forming a compact that the government ought to respect; it does
3) The Games are not promoting LGBTQIA+-specific values – it merely advocates values of equality and dignity, virtues that should and very well be embraced by each and every devout Christian in the city. ...
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