Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)
Development and assistance for LGBTQ community
Vietnam: LGBTQ+ Pride in the Time of Coronavirus
The gay former Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir said, “It is absolutely imperative that every human being’s freedom and human rights are respected, all over the world.” Sigurðardóttir’s message, delivered while defending LGBTQ+ rights at a 2014 Pride festival, would certainly have been welcomed by ...
Hugh Bohane
LGBT Tourism and Inclusion in Southeast Asia: A Divided Future?
Some countries in Southeast Asia do better than others in welcoming LGBT tourists. Southeast Asia has enjoyed an exponential surge of foreign tourists in the past decade. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the total contribution of tourism to the economy of southeast Asia ...
LGBTIQ progress questioned
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith presided over a meeting on LGBTIQ pride on Wednesday, highlighting the community’s “legal rights”, the extent of which was disputed by activists on May 18. The statement was posted by government newswire AKP, which also quoted last year’s statement from government spokesman ...
Timely warning over gay rights
The gay community in Cambodia continues to suffer discrimination in every aspect of life, activists have warned, despite speedy progress being made around the world. Events are being held across Phnom Penh in support of Gay Pride week, which runs until Monday. But members of ...
Rules allowing censorship of depictions of homosexuality criticised
When the Ministry of Culture banned actor Denny Kwan on April 25 from appearing in movies for a year for wearing revealing clothing, the decision drew fire for what many felt were its sexist overtones. It also called attention to the ministry’s code of ethics, ...
Prison system sets up new accommodations for LGBT inmates
Bangkok’S Min Buri and Klong Prem prisons as well as Chon Buri’s Pattaya Prison have arranged separate zones to house self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners separate from non-LGBT prisoners, Department of Corrections director-general Kobkiat Kasiwiwat said on March 22. The move makes Thailand ...
Orlando shooting gives LGBT Singaporeans an unlikely opening
A tragedy half a world away has created an unlikely opening for a repressed community in Singapore. The mass shooting at a gay club in Orlando, Florida, has galvanized LGBT people in Singapore, where a candlelight vigil was held on 14 June to express solidarity with the ...
Asia's first transgender centre opens in Bangkok
The Thai Red Cross Aids Research Centre has joined forces with US development partners to open the first transgender-specific operation in Asia. The Tangerine Community Health Centre – located on the first floor of the Thai Red Cross Aids Research Centre in Bangkok – strives to be ...
Loans to fight LGBT poverty
LGBT Cambodians driven into poverty by discrimination, and sometimes forced to sell sex to survive, may soon enjoy the benefits of a new online campaign designed to raise money to help them rebuild their lives. Micro Rainbow International, a non-profit organisation aimed at lifting LGBT Cambodians ...
In Laos, an invisible minority is finding its voice
If there is one word to describe the LGBT community in Laos, the landlocked nation sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam, it might just be “invisible.” This is the ninth part of a 10-part series on LGBT rights in Southeast Asia, which uncovers the challenges facing the LGBT ...
