By Lara Pham
How much money would it take for you to change your sexual orientation?
For Hong Kong property development executive and philanthropist Gigi Chao, no amount of money would suffice. She is the daughter of the wealthy property tycoon Cecil Chao, who made international headlines in 2012 when he offered 500 million HKD ($65 million) to the man who could successfully woo his lesbian daughter. Over a week ago, Mr. Chao doubled that offer even though his daughter has been married to her partner of nine years, Sean Eav
It was after learning about his daughter and Ms. Eav's elopement in Paris that Mr. Chao issued the initial marriage bounty, which attracted some 20,000 suitors. When he recently increased the amount to 1 billion HKD ($129 million), men started bombarding the offices of Gigi Chao with phone messages and exclaiming, "I want to be a billionaire!"
Subsequently, Ms. Chao issued an open letter to her father asking him to accept her partner of nine years. She writes, "Now, I'm not asking you to be best friends; however it would mean the world to me if you could just not be so terrified of her, and treat her like a normal, dignified human being." Ms. Chao's letter is sympathetic to her father's conservative beliefs, but it is clear from her public appeal that she hopes to encourage meaningful acceptance for her sexual orientation and the LGBTQ community in Hong Kong.
Although Hong Kong decriminalized homosexuality in 1991, it does not legally recognize same-sex marriage.