Jimmy Sham Bio
Jimmy Sham is a 32 years old leader of the Civil Human Rights Front in Hong Kong. He was born on 29 June 1987 in British Hong Kong. Sham grew up in a single-parent family.
Breaking! Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, a #HongKong political and LGBT rights activist is just attacked by mob of South Asian ethnic groups at 1940. He is arranging march on October 20.
香港民間人權陣線召集人岑子杰在旺角遇襲受傷，他正在申請十月二十日遊行#SOSHK pic.twitter.com/74x8zrEia7— ☆:**:. ℭ𝔢𝔷𝔞𝔫𝔫𝔢 🇭🇰 ᶜᶜᴾ 👎🏻 .:**:.☆ (@CriticalCezanne) October 16, 2019
Earlier Life & Education
He completed secondary school in 2006.
He worked as a legislative assistant for a period after graduating from secondary school. He later joined Rainbow Action, a member organization of the Civil Human Rights Front, which advocates for LGBT rights.
He started assisting with the work of CHRF in 2008, such as hosting events and managing affairs with human and police rights.
He occupied Connaught Road Central along with other protesters after the 1 July march in 2011, after which he arrested for unlawful assembly.
He participated in the 2014 Hong Kong protests and became CHRF’s convener in 2015, for one year.
After Sham left the post of convener, he studied at the Hong Kong Community College, graduating in October 2018 with a Higher Diploma in Social Work.
He immediately rejoined CHRF, again to be its convener. This came at a difficult time for the organization, as it had only HK$300,000 in funding with a monthly expenditure of HK$20,000.
He is a long-time member of the League of Social Democrats, and he joined its executive committee in 2018. He first joined the political party because it was the first party in Hong Kong which placed LGBT issues within its party platform.
Sexuality
Sham is openly gay; he married his husband, a flight attendant, in New York in 2014.
He is an active campaigner for LGBT rights in Hong Kong. As a secretary, he manages daily operations for Rainbow of Hong Kong, helps organize annual LGBT rallies, and hosted an LGBT program at Citizens’ Radio.
Sham was also the spokesperson at the 2018 Hong Kong Pride Parade, which drew 12,000 people, a record high.
Jimmy Sham Assaulted by 4 to 5 Men
On August 29, Sham and another pro-democracy activist were attacked by men wielding a baseball bat and an iron tube.
Sham said at the time that his friend suffered the brunt of the injuries, swelling to his arm. Sham was unharmed.
BREAKING: Within 24 hours after US House passing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, Jimmy Sham, the convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front and candidate of District Council Election, was chopped and severely wounded by 4 masked persons this evening. pic.twitter.com/ys4pU98fRY
— Demosistō 香港眾志 😷 (@demosisto) October 16, 2019
Sham told the website that he made a formal complaint to local police regarding the incident. Two men, aged 15 and 44, were arrested and charged with the assault, the South China Morning Post reported.
Radio Free Asia quoted sham as saying, “All the Civil Human Rights Front can do is tell citizens to stay safe, from the bottom of our hearts.”
Sham’s organization had been forbidden from holding an official protest on the day, which led to Sham official canceling the group’s activities. Sham said of the decision to cancel, “This is a heartbreaking reality.
19:40 16 Oct: A black 5-sitter van (FL7976) left after attacking Civil Human Rights Front convenor Jimmy Sham in Arran Lane, Mong Kok. According to a FB post, the assailants are 4 to 5 South Asians who covered their faces. #StandWithHongKong @SolomonYue @HawleyMO @anderscorr pic.twitter.com/hNn8eTeo6S
— Hongkongsar852 (@hongkongsar852) October 16, 2019
