For the last four months, Hong Kong has been rocked by unprecedented prot%8Uq33KQrHO_Yl1v@Tinfgfxo%ZqD5!9+t60WE0*DwUHO-XWR1ests and calls for democracy.

WhEM*h7#B%oOi#cVJDMxQ0H8D=4sAp4PfJ&mrA7vnlP9!W8U^$mGat began as protests a controversial bill that would allow extradition to China has developed into a widespread, and at times violent, anti-government and pro-democracy movement.

Protesters have taken VaSda#*VET55&prrZYVk+8y4w-Cunp*2$)7%UL%9VfSznrMjRbto the street every weekend since the beginning of June. Government tactics to quell demonstrations, such as withdrawing the controversial bill and enacting emergency legislation to grant police more power, have been of little use.

The movement is famously leaderless. Or, as some argue, “leader-full”, with independent protests, campa6zS(y-GOxO3sMIdxt7M9C2S%6y#=J-!_SDJ-8orWiDc(Dxljsyigns, and activism springing up around the beleaguered city.

But a handful of LGBT Hong Kongers have beenCM8Beg2lDZ94GC+Ej6ew4f9wb+z#Qe90HCpXi%)(DEIwiMh3Vp making headlines for their part in the protests:

Denise Ho

Lesbian Canto-pop superstar has emerged as a tenacious defender of ha8LDYyZPbCUr$r@2SlpU$TBQ$Zr_)^_WOTY(Tws=s9lLEWkoxJuman rights during the months-long process. 

Ho has spoken out over police violence at the UN and the US Capitol. Late last mop(rS3QxV$S9iFC_e$SSX__hJF-)s*4SBbn=_e%davyqaSdh389nth she made headlines when a pro-China activist doused her in paint at a Taipei rally in support of Hong Kong.

"This is just the tip of the icebVK6Vcb78TV595(iwgbkD4m&4wbVeP=Y(9@P1n-DIdS_U!MjBgSerg,” she said of the attack on Facebook.

Ho told the UN Human Rights Council in July thR342hMHchcT1#4-UF1SfIh$C+G3Mtwk!ulsB(b(P-+4TqMp0pYat the "anger of Hongkongers follows years of deceitful promises”.

"We saw our autonomy slowly eroded" she said.

Denise Ho Wan-sze, also known as HOCC, was one of the first Hong Kong celebrities to publicly come out a-z&r!I528c2QjqBIh)jDB!#9euppu(GB5aB1A9SPS&B7jP%jcSs a lesbian in 2012.

"You have to strengthen yourself before you can project anythi)UD)-Y-rz3UMMBNvm6lkam5A95+CPkU(RJFn^=uh*i$j5uL9HTng,” Ho told the South China Morning Post at the time. Ho is also a founding member of LGBT rights organisation Big Love Alliance.

Raymond Chan

Hong Kong’s only openly-gay lawmaker, Ray Cha0ghhRic%xxHBzP#78u&E#n&LgMz^UE+bxz_#^*OQm&c^GQXg*dn, revealed himself as a fervent opponent to the controversial withdrawal bill back in May.

Chan was seen at the center of a ruckus with pro-Beijing lawmakers. Footage shows Chan clamberiy8WWFapZfi+5Dc)LXX8IZeLv7chGl5xqNZUGP!VY^4E!0)kjl6ng on a chair or table, shouting and pointing while other lawmakers grab his arms.

"I usually keep a meek composure, practice meditation, prefer non-alcoholic drinks, and treat everyonIDO28xa!cJ5BAV(x^O!MQ+SGt%-7-x_zy$DaRMOO5lJu9e*RgGe with respect,” Chan wrote on Twitter.

"But when an authoritarian state strikes, every fiber of my being turns into a fighterVK%R@o7G6y!d4If*_P*n=%4@XE&c1u@XY_HyQkpXq1U9In^_23 for my constituents", he said.

Chan has been fervently sharing updates of the city’s protests.Other pro-democracy legislators and activists have been atty4F5REYBbf-oFNBpiwe!OC*GtVXEMdkVFA_FpJfp1ko--O3nWjacked.

“Opposition lawmakers are arrested, or attacked by thugs or cops, so I'm mentallt(h&DgQebZf6vD3BK%NJOGVYo2%Z@CUWuh$)yi4^BB+ru8LJr-y prepared for either” Chan.

"I wear no protective gear as I cannot live i*ajXxil@n+t9FSqr%Z6U3AyS*8DqQui1MHUSsmN_Z5l*XAHi=Nn fear,” he explained.

This week, he and other pro-democracy legislatures disrupted Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s policy address in tA9ZaXy=W+oBBTKk*pSSeBDB&o5A@QS3dzA-&H-YWIjjWeJpo6Khe legislative council.

Using a projector, they displayed the demonstrators' call for five key demanrmJ=iZNxk336@$NQMZwpVMe!O(T^yOC6nd8P0L*7u36laOw24Ids to be met as she spoke. 

Hong Kong elected Chan, the cityj2&Ffudgl_Oic6CEk$LoTG1_p!vv=p+8&j*=eBS^Is$-3xezn*’s first openly-gay lawmaker, to the Legislative Council in 2016. He has been a vocal advocate of LGBTI issues in the city, including pushing for anti-discrimination legislation.

Jimmy Sham

Jimmy Sham is a renowned LwR!1M6mOXT8LChb0dmhc3CzPtFugfie-S$#WbN@%EJ64@D773aGBT rights and other human rights activist in Hong Kong.

He currently convenes the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) which regularly organizes legal protests against the government.

Three of its marches against the controvers^(8fEst(x_Adis)0Kt9msdFoyVK(3MXn7T-S0dBV7w+ro2U-LXial extradition bill were attended by more than a million people, according to CHRF.

In late August, Sham and a coIAX#1BcwUx9@fl+bp(DQoI#70bXp^spUR*lCTsBxaJ+7TkZvs)mpanion were attacked by two masked men wielding a baseball and a knife. Sham was left unscathed but his companion was hospitalized.

In July, pro-establishment Hong Kong lawmaker Ann Chiang Lai-waS34vaCxFecnZV_Bg*%)__LLG68pc@nOPwTq%vjhs1O8zsMLzCIn launched a series of attacks against the gay protest leader.

Chiang share=YVH)Sj!b(AvZ5aF2gCbw4fd32^B-9ZO)6mpEiBE&W)t9SEpV!d footage of Sham in drag on her social media. "Important news, please spread around," she wrote. Comments on the post included: "Corrupting social morals, just disgusting”.

Anthony Wong

Cantopop star Anthony Wong co-founded leading Hong Kong LGBT rights organization Big Love Alliance bac8LU@S_Dk_)eIF-VG9W+&CJqDyZ=2E3k7hrxUCvuIu=v)3gM-I1k in 2012.

Like Denise HeX$vXJ-Sz3LB)7qoX@z^zeVMU$pNq3YkM1p^fPgd(jdDmJ04sAo, his outspoken support for the 2014 pro-democracy movement landed him in hot water with Beijing and he has been banned from the Chinese mainland.

He and Ho both performed at the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and at the end of one of Hong Kong’s largest marches on 9 June.