Asia
India’s Gay Rights Activists Seize Momentum After Landmark Ruling
New Delhi — At a jammed intersection in New Delhi, a passing parade of people announced their mission with a single word in Hindi, dicing it into short, snappy syllables. “Azadi!” or freedom, the crowd chanted as drivers leaned out of their rickshaws, straining to hear. One of the marchers, Rishi Raj Vyas, 16, filled… Read more »
‘Rainbow couples’ fight for approval
While a large number of transgender and homosexual couples in Cambodia live together, marry and adopt children, they still face stigmatisation and discrimination in their daily lives, a new report by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights released today shows. For the report, titled Cambodia’s Rainbow Families, CCHR conducted interviews with 121 individuals either currently… Read more »
China has published its first study of transgender people and it’s exactly as worrying as you’d expect
China’s first nationwide report on its trans population has indicated startling rates of violence and depression within the community. The poll, released this week, revealed that high amounts of transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming people live in poverty and lack access to sufficient medical care. ? 12.7% of those had also attempted suicide and/or self-harm. In… Read more »
Coming to terms
Scholars discuss the issue of LGBTI acceptance and gender identity in the predominantly Muslim deep South, where tradition, religion and the restive situation influence people’s lifestyle and belief A man with short hair — wearing a sarong around his chest the way a woman would — is seen frolicking alone happily on a crowded beach.… Read more »
Small victories can’t stop the dangers for LGBTIQ people in Southeast Asia
A new report found the LGBTIQ community in Southeast Asia is experiencing ‘small steps sideways, big steps back’ The situation for LGBTIQ people in Southeast Asia has deteriorated, despite some small victories in the region. Rising influential conservative social forces had led to the increasing criminalization and pathologization of LGBTIQ people in the region. A… Read more »
Rights group urges China to ban abusive gay ‘conversion’
Hong Kong (AP) — The Chinese government should stop hospitals and other medical facilities from subjecting LGBT people to conversion therapy that in some cases has involved electroshock, involuntary confinement and forced medication, a human rights group said Wednesday. The report released by New York-based Human Rights Watch, based on interviews with 17 people subjected… Read more »
Hundreds join pride march in India, where gay sex is illegal
Hundreds of gay rights activists and supporters, many wearing colorful costumes and holding balloons, marched through India’s capital on Sunday in celebration but also defiance in a nation that continues to outlaw homosexual acts. As people chanted and marched to the beat of drums during New Delhi’s 10th annual Queer Pride march, many said they… Read more »
Hong Kong has the 2022 Gay Games. Life for China’s LGBTI people may improve at last
I’m glad that Hong Kong won the bid to host the Games. But governmental attitudes towards LGBTI equality both here and in China remain archaic This month Hong Kong won the bid to host the 2022 Gay Games – the first time the Games will be held in Asia. The campaign to win the Games,… Read more »
Gay Chinese tourists flock to Thailand for fun, acceptance
Phuket, Thailand — Bathed in a pink spotlight, the cabaret singer at Phuket’s ZAG bar lip-syncs the top notes of a popular Mandarin love song, delighting the crowd of gay Chinese tourists who have escaped judgement at home for sexual freedom in Thailand. While the song, “The Moon Represents My Heart”, is a hit with… Read more »
Muslim woman reveals abuse growing up as a lesbian in Pakistan
A Muslim woman has described how hard it was growing up as a lesbian in Pakistan, where homosexuality is illegal. ‘Zayna’, 40, who moved to the UK in 2010, said she was discriminated against because of her sexuality but always stayed true to herself. Shopkeeper raped customer when she asked if she could charge her… Read more »
Asia’s biggest gay pride parade brings tens of thousands to Taipei
Event is first since Taiwan ruled in favour of gay marriage but some activists are frustrated by slow progress of legalisation A sea of rainbow flags and glitzy costumes filled downtown Taipei as tens of thousands marched in Asia’s largest gay pride parade, the first since Taiwan’s top court ruled in favour of gay marriage.… Read more »
LGBT People Under Attack: Raids in Belarus, Murder in Chechnya, Registration of Gays in Central Asia
Singer and Entertainer Zelim Bakaev Apparently Murdered by the Security Services of Chechnyan President’s Security Services The LGBTQI community is under assault in Eastern Europe as well as Central Asia. The most recent crackdown in the region was this past weekend’s raids of nightclubs popular with the LGBT community in Belarus, during which two clubs… Read more »
Gay men speak out about Azerbaijan’s LGBT crackdown: ‘They gave me electric shocks’
Lawyers and activists say dozens of gay and transgender people have been arrested and detained Several men have come forward with firsthand accounts of an alleged crackdown on the LGBT community in Azerbaijan. One of the men, who remained anonymous, said he was detained for nine days and tortured. “They gave me electric shocks,” he… Read more »
Kyrgyzstan’s only gay nightclub closes under LGBT crackdown
The only LGBT night club in Kyrgyzstan’s capital city of Biskek has closed after governmental pressure to silence the presentation of LGBT people in a public arena. The nightclub, named London, nestled on the outskirts of the city has been frequented by LGBT partiers on a Saturday night for years. But after the landlord in… Read more »
Tajikistan announces official register of gay citizens
Dushanbe, Tajikistan (AFP) – Authoritarian Tajikistan announced on Tuesday (Oct 17) it had drawn up a register of 367 allegedly gay citizens, suggesting they would be required to undergo testing to avoid “the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases”. Details of the move was unveiled in Zakonnost, a newspaper published by Tajikistan’s state prosecutor which said the… Read more »
Nepalese man fears for his life after being outed in UK court
A gay man from Nepal fears he may be at risk of murder if he returns to his home country, after his sexuality was disclosed during a court hearing. The unnamed man, who was granted an anonymity order to protect his identity while applying to stay in the UK, says he has effectively been outed… Read more »
What’s It Like Being A Gay Student In Japan?
In a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ society, teachers receive directives but no training to support anxious, closeted children when they are ‘outed’ Loretto Cunningham has had a rough day at work. A well-meaning colleague inadvertently revealed her sexuality to a senior member of staff at one of the primary schools in Tokyo where she teaches… Read more »
University in Pakistan offers free education for transgender students
A university in Pakistan has offered to give free education to transgender people. The Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) is a public research university, based in the capital Islamabad. It was the first open university in Asia and one of the largest higher learning institutions in the world. Elementary School The institution announced this week… Read more »
Azerbaijan: Anti-Gay Crackdown
Gay Men, Transgender Women Tortured to Extort Money, Intelligence (Berlin) – Police in Azerbaijan have conducted a violent campaign, arresting and torturing men presumed to be gay or bisexual, as well as transgender women, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch interviews with released detainees and lawyers confirmed that since mid-September, police in Baku,… Read more »
Western pressure is saving LGBT lives in Azerbaijan, but crisis is far from over
After Canada and other Western governments protested the arrests and beatings of gay and transgender citizens in Azerbaijan, the regime began releasing the detainees, proving that publicity and pressure can force autocratic regimes such as the one in Baku to unclench their fist now and then. But as a report released on Tuesday by Human… Read more »
Gay man beaten and electrocuted while kept in detention in Azerbaijan
Shocking testimony: ‘We were captives in our home country’ A gay man was beaten, electrocuted and detained for nine days in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. The man, who asked only to be identified as Xeyal, said authorities are randomly arresting and torturing LGBTI people in the country’s capital, Baku. He told Buzzfeed: ‘We… Read more »
HIV infections on the rise
Hanoi (VNA) – The number of new HIV infections has been on the rise in Vietnam, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM) and those with unsafe sexual behaviours, heard a conference on policies for HIV/AIDS prevention in Ho Chi Minh City on September 27. More than 4,540 HIV infections had been detected… Read more »
Outcry as Azerbaijan police launch crackdown on LGBT community
At least 60 people have been imprisoned or fined after a spate of raids in the capital, Baku – Authorities in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, have begun a vicious crackdown on the city’s LGBT community, according to activists in the country. Reports suggest that over the past 10 days dozens of gay and trans people have… Read more »
Anti-gay hysteria is on the rise in Indonesia
Sodomy is not a crime, but may soon become one Until a year ago, Mama Yuli could count on a steady stream of reporters and television crews to make their way to her small orange house in Jakarta’s suburbs for a peek at what is thought to be Indonesia’s only shelter for transgender women. Yulianus… Read more »
Chinese man wins court battle against gay cure therapy
A state hospital in China has been banned from forcing a gay man to undergo conversion therapy intended to make him heterosexual. The monumental ruling has been hailed as a victory by gay rights advocates in China, according to The Times. The plaintiff, named Yu Hu, was forced by his relatives into the care of… Read more »
China’s Largest Gay-Dating App Tries Streaming
Life was tough for Ma Baoli after he came out and quit his job as a policeman. Five years later, his internet company Blue City is a top player in China’s LGBT market. Episode one of the Bloomberg video series Love Disrupted explores how the social networking app Blued is changing the way gay men… Read more »
The Philippines: Make Way for the Baklas
Meet my new neighbor Janet. She’s of average height, has long, shapely legs, and sports a wavy mass of black hair that stops just short of her pert derrière—definitely head-turning material. She’s one in a procession of similar beauties who pass by in a steady stream. She and I exchange recipes: it turns out she… Read more »
India’s Supreme Court affirms basic human rights for gay people
India’s Supreme Court has ruled that gay people have a right to live in private, putting the future of the country’s anti-gay law in doubt. Homosexuality is illegal in India under Section 377 of the penal code, which is based on outdated British colonial law. The century-old law was brought back into effect by a court… Read more »
It is one thing to tell someone to take a bold and courageous step towards the right direction, and a completely different thing to actually be able to do that in reality. Given the ever increasing LGBT community and all the awareness around about treating them equal, one would expect that the whole process of… Read more »
How Did Nepal Become a Global LGBT Rights Beacon?
Members of Nepal’s LGBT community were once openly derided as “social pollutants,” but now enjoy social and political rights—including legal recognition of a third gender—that put the country leagues ahead of much of the rest of the world. The past decade has proved critical in that evolution, as LGBT activists won significant victories in Nepal’s… Read more »
Transgender bill introduced in Pakistan parliament
The bill is the first piece of proposed legislation that extends recognition to this often-ignored segment of society, Dawn news reported. For the first time, a legislation has been introduced in Pakistan’s lower house of parliament to protect the fundamental rights of transgender people in the conservative Muslim nation. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights)… Read more »
My Trip To The Philippines, Part 1: The Power of Queer-Affirming Theater
As a Filipino American kid, I always felt cursed for being gay. Growing up in a traditional Catholic family, I had a lack of queer role models – with the exception of two distant female relatives who my aunties referred to as “tomboys”, or a distant uncle with “a roommate” who no one acknowledged. American… Read more »
Gay and Undocumented, Burmese Refugees Struggle in Thailand
“Queer migrants” or LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex) refugees from Myanmar – called as such because they had to leave their countries and go somewhere else to be able to live safely as themselves – have looked at Thailand as the ideal destination, with its louche, gay-friendly lifestyle. But in too many… Read more »
It is a Cosmic Dance, Not Cross-Dressing! Understanding the Culture and Festivals of Nepal
I grew up in a remote village of Gorkha district, north west from Kathmandu, in Nepal. Fortunately or unfortunately, from where the famous term, the Gurkhas (as brave warriors), originated, after they fought WWI and WWII along with the British Empire. As I have no interest in wars or weaponry, I will talk about the… Read more »
Malaysia among Asia-Pacific countries with most new AIDS infections
A United Nations report finds that Malaysia is one of the 10 countries which together accounted for over 95% of all new HIV infections in the Asia-Pacific region, Bernama reported today. The report, compiled by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) “Ending AIDS: Progress Towards the 90-90-90 Targets”, said the other nine Asia-Pacific countries that had… Read more »
LGBTI in Mongolia fighting for rights and recognition
Activists and members of LGBTI community are demanding to be heard in the land of Genghis Khan, a nation that used to be tolerant Anaraa Nyamdorj has been born thrice. The first time was 40 years ago, in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, when “I was born in a female body”. Nyamdorj says that once… Read more »
Asia’s youngest nation offers glimmer of hope for LGBT rights
Some 500 people took part in East Timor’s first-ever pride parade: “The sense of euphoria … It reminds me of Independence Day in 2002” Kuala Lumpur (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Marching through the streets of East Timor’s capital Dili with a rainbow flag in his hand, Natalino Guterres was overwhelmed with emotion, reminding him of… Read more »
Afghan soldiers are using boys as sex slaves, and the U.S. is looking the other way
Kabul – Last summer, an Afghan police commander invited me to his post for tea — and to view his “beautiful” boy sex slave. I stumbled through a farm of chest-high opium poppy stocks to reach his mud-and-wattle outpost on the outskirts of Tarin Kot, the capital of southern Uruzgan province that is teetering in… Read more »
Indonesia: Now Indonesia Wants to Hide Its Floggings
Fear and Loathing The authorities in Aceh – Indonesia’s only province that implements full Sharia (Islamic law) – clearly feel stung by the international outcry they generated when police publicly flogged two gay men in May. Their solution, it appears, is to put an end to public floggings. Instead, they’re just going to flog people indoors, away from the cameras.… Read more »
Chinese tourists head to Thailand for preventative HIV drug
Bangkok (The Nation/Asia NewsNetwork) – Thailand, which has for years been a hot destination for Chinese tourists, has now also become a draw for those seeking to buy cheap drugs to prevent HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as PrEP, is a type of medicine that, if taken daily, can reduce the risk of HIV infection… Read more »
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