RTHK to suspend LGBTQ+ radio programme after 17 years

Hong Kong’s public broadcaster RTHK will suspend its LGBTQ+ radio programme We Are Family in August this year after it has been run for 17 years, due to “rearrangement of programmes”.

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a spokersperson from RTHK said that the broadcaster reviewed programming strategies from time to time to ensure providing quality programmes and information for the public in compliance with the public purposes and mission set out in the charter of RTHK. Meanwhile, RTHK declined to comment on the internal editorial matters of any individual programme.

According to the Facebook post of Brian Leung, the host of the programme, Leung said that he was informed by Ho Tsui Fung, head of the Chinese programme service, RTHK, earlier this month that the programme will be suspended from August due to “rearrangement of programmes”. 

Meanwhile, Leung thanked the supporters of the programme and expressed his feelings toward the suspension of the programme. “While Hong Kong is undergoing drastic changes, many things are just a matter of time, and we are already mentally prepared for it,” he said.

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A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw on the Facebook page of the programme that Leung’s announcement received over 220 comments and 280 shares, with netizens expressing disappointment over RTHK’s decision. While some said they could feel that the host insisted on equal rights and comforted the hearts of the gender minorities, some questioned whether the only radio programme about LGBT can't be accommodated in Hong Kong. 

According to RTHK’s website, We Are Family was launched in May 2006 to promote social diversity and inclusion. It claimed to be the first sexual and gender diversity cultural platform in the city. 

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