Gender

Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)

Why LGBT Rights Trump Environmentalism in Vietnam

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, ...

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

Myanmar: Sex education in schools sparks debate over morality

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 ...

Cape Diamond (Yangon)

Vietnam: LGBT Youth Unprotected

Pervasive myths about sexual orientation and gender identity in Vietnam contribute to violence and discrimination which is felt strongly among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, Human Rights watch said in a report released today. The 65-page report, “‘My Teacher Said I Had a Disease’: Barriers to ...

CHRC seeks to end LGBT discrimination

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 ...

Pech Sotheary

Love in the time of genocide

Three transgender men living in secret under the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime share their stories of love, loss and betrayal WHY WE WROTE THIS: Because Cambodia’s LGBT community has endured through even the harshest moments of history. Looking out of the car window, rumbling down a bumpy dirt ...

Tabitha Payne

LGBT activists petition National Broadcasting Commission over media’s offensive language

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 ...

ASEAN’s shifting attitudes towards LGBT rights

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, ...

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 ...

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