LGBTQ policy and rights

Since its adoption of a market economy in the last 1980s, Vietnam has become what some have referred to as a new “Asian Tiger.” Over the last 25 years, Vietnam’s economy has enjoyed an average annual growth rate of more than 6 percent. Between 1994 and 2014, ...

A new school textbook, which features a fictional same-sex couple and young students who find themselves attracted to the opposite sex, has sparked outrage in Myanmar. The opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Buddhist monks and conservative parents protested the distribution of the book, calling ...

The Cambodian Human Rights Committee president spoke during a pro-LGBT event in Phnom Penh on Saturday and called on the public to end discrimination and prevent violence against the community. The event, organised by Rainbow Community Kampuchea, was held during International Human Rights Day. CHRC president Keo ...

A representative of the Foundation of Transgender Alliance for Human Rights (Thai TGA), along with other independent LGBT activists, has submitted an open letter to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) in response to the recent use by several media outlets of the term ...

Last year, Taiwan’s apex court ruled that the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman under Taiwan’s civil law is against their constitution, which effectively means that Taiwan is the first country in Asia to legalise gay marriage. This year, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

An overwhelming majority of transgender women on Cambodia’s city streets are subject to “shocking” harassment and abuse, according to a new report from the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights. The report, released on September 21, also shines a light on a disturbing new practice that has allegedly ...

Indonesia said on August 10 there was “no room” for the gay community in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, as activists blasted officials for an unprecedented series of LGBT attacks. A wave of angry rhetoric directed at homosexuals earlier this year – including a call to ...