Today’s Hong Kong Pride showed the LGBT community there are more visible than ever before

The head of Hong Kong’s Equal Opportunity Commission Dr York Chow addressed the crowd, as did member of the legislative council Cyd Ho.

This year, the fifth Hong Kong Pride, saw more corporate sponsorship with JP Morgan and Citibank joining Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Nomura who gave cash sponsorship last year, Fridae reports.

Paul Choi, Goldman Sachs’ executive director of human capital management, also spoke at the parade. ‘As a company, we have been participating in the parade since 2008, and we are glad to see more people taking part as Hong Kong becomes more inclusive,’ he said in a statement.

‘Pride events around the world are extremely important milestones on any country’s LGBT calendar,’ said Abby Lee, co-founder of Les Peches, Hong Kong’s premier events for lesbians, bisexual and queer women.

‘It is a day of visibility for the LGBT movement. A day to show the rest of the world that we are celebrating our sexual identities and community’s solidarity. This is especially true in Hong Kong where the LGBT community is still fairly transparent and discreet and our basic human rights still denied.’

This year’s Rainbow Ambassadors are Hong Kong singers Anthony Wong, who came out in 2012, and former legislative council member Tanya Chan.

‘You don’t have to be gay to support equal rights,’ said Chan. ‘I believe everyone who believes in justice should strive for equality.’

Participation was reported to be double last year’s 4,000, with more mainland Chinese people coming over the border to march for LGBT equality.