This is an interesting and novel incident. The billionaire's daughter has been married to another woman for 9 years (legally). But the father refuses to accept that his daughter doesn't want to marry a man and has just doubled the cash reward to a successful suitor to $147,000,000.
Background:
The lesbian daughter of a Hong Kong billionaire has written an open letter to her father asking him to treat her wife as a normal human being after he offered $147 million to a man that could marry her.
Gigi Chao, 33, married her partner Sean Eav in a civil ceremony in France in 2012.
Her property developer father, Cecil Chao Sze-tsung, made international headlines when he offered a $73.5 million dowry to the man his daughter would be willing to marry, South China Morning Post reports. Last week her father doubled the amount on offer after Ms Chao unsurprisingly turned down every one of the 20,000 suitors.
Ms Chao, who is still married to her partner of nine years, today wrote an open letter pleading her father to stop interfering.
The letter details the love and respect she holds for her father but says she is a "better person" because of her wife.
"I'm not asking you to be best of 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," the letter reads.
"I'm sorry to mislead you to think I was only in a lesbian relationship because there was a shortage of good, suitable men in Hong Kong. There are plenty of good men, they are just not me."
What was striking to me was the civilised and gentle way that the daughter responded to her father's offers.
Dear Daddy,
I thought the timing was right for us to have a candid conversation.
You are one of the most mentally astute, energetic yet well mannered and hard-working people this humble earth has ever known.
Your confidence, quick wit, and charisma brightens any room you enter.
I love you very much, and I think I can speak for my brothers also, that we have the utmost respect for you as a father and role model in business.
I am sorry that people have been saying insensitive things about you lately. The truth is, they don’t understand that I will always forgive you for thinking the way you do, because I know you think you are acting in my best interests. And we both don’t care if anybody else understands.
As your daughter, I would want nothing more than to make you happy. But in terms of relationships, your expectations of me and the reality of who I am, are not coherent.
I am responsible for some of this misplaced expectation, because I must have misled you to hope there were other options for me. You know I’ve had male lovers in the past, and I’ve had happy, albeit short-lived, relationships. I found myself temporarily happy, buoyed by the freshness, the attention, the interest, of someone physically stronger than myself.
But it was always short-lived, as I quickly lost patience, and felt an indescribable discomfort in their presence. It usually made me frustrated, and I would yearn for my freedom again. I’ve broken a few hearts, hearts of good, honest and loving men, and I’m sorry that it had to be so.But with Sean, a woman, somehow it was different. I am comfortable and satisfied with my life and completely at ease with her.
\I know it’s difficult for you to understand how I could feel romantically attracted to a woman; I suppose I can’t really explain it either. It just happens, peacefully and gently, and after so many years, we still love each other very much.
My regret is that you have no idea how happy I am with my life, and there are aspects of my life that you don’t share. I suppose we don’t need each other’s approval for our romantic relationships, and I am sure your relationships are really fantastic too.
However, I do love my partner Sean, who does a good job of looking after me, ensuring I am fed, bathed and warm enough every day, and generally cheering me up to be a happy, jolly girl. She is a large part of my life, and I am a better person because of her.
Now, I’m not asking you to be best of 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.
I understand it is difficult for you to understand, let alone accept this truth.
I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out who I am, what is important in my life, who I love and how best to live life, as an expression of all these questions. I am proud of my life, and I would not choose to live it any other way (except also figuring out how to be gentler on the planet).
I’m sorry to mislead you to think I was only in a lesbian relationship because there was a shortage of good, suitable men in Hong Kong.
are plenty of good men, they are just not for me.Wishing you happiness.
Patiently yours, Your daughter, Gigi