Asia
Life As A Lesbian In Baku
In Azerbaijan, being openly gay can mean dealing with insults, threats, and even violence. Rights groups have singled out the country’s government for failing to protect its LGBT community. One young woman in Baku described her experiences after coming out to her family and university classmates. (RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service) Video Source – Radio Free Europe
Tiny war-torn island holds first Pride parade as Prime Minister comes out in support of LGBT rights
A tiny war-torn island in Asia has taken two huge steps forward in promoting LGBT rights. East Timor, which only declared its independence in 2002 after a traumatic, deadly struggle, held its first Pride parade last week. The celebration in the capital of Dili was attended by several hundred people, according to The Associated Press.… Read more »
As Taiwan legalized gay marriage, China shut down its most iconic lesbian social media platform
“So much smog here, how can we see the rainbow?” @Melody commented on Weibo—China’s micro-blog site—following Taiwan’s ruling on same-sex marriage. On May 24, Taiwan’s constitutional court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to legally marry, becoming the first place to do so in Asia. The ruling was an encouraging sign for LGBTQ communities… Read more »
Thousands attend Pink Dot, Singapore’s Pride: Take a look at the 30 best pictures
Despite restrictions and tight security, Singapore’s Pink Dot festival was a massive success Singapore’s annual Pink Dot, their Pride event, drew thousands of people to the city today (1 July). Despite new restrictions keeping foreigners out of the event, with barricades around the rally site, many came to celebrate. Only people from Singapore or permanent… Read more »
China bans gay content from the internet
New rules will edit or ban content if it displays ‘abnormal sexual behaviors’ China has banned gay content from the internet, with the regulator calling it ‘abnormal’. Published by the China Netcasting Services Association, the regulation censors online content ranging from movies and documentaries to cartoons and educational videos. The new rules will edit or… Read more »
New York Today: Meeting a Gay Pride Grand Marshal
Good morning on this muggy Monday. The NYC Pride celebrations continue this week, leading up to the march on Sunday. Thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender New Yorkers and their supporters are expected to attend the march, which will led by four grand marshals: Brooke Guinan, an activist, transgender woman and New York City… Read more »
A new safe place for the LGBT community
HCM City — Eight years ago, a 24-year-old man from the Mekong Delta Province of Ð?ng Tháp, who identified as gay at the time, decided he wanted to change his gender. But he didn’t know where to turn for advice. “I felt like a girl inside. Psychologically, that’s how I felt,” he said last Sunday… Read more »
A new safe place for the LGBT community
HCM CITY — Eight years ago, a 24-year-old man from the Mekong Delta Province of Ð?ng Tháp, who identified as gay at the time, decided he wanted to change his gender. But he didn’t know where to turn for advice. “I felt like a girl inside. Psychologically, that’s how I felt,” he said last Sunday… Read more »
Dozens arrested as South Korean military conducts ‘gay witch-hunt’
Seoul (CNN) – “Sergeant A” doesn’t want to give his real name, his exact rank or show his face. Speaking to CNN, he said he was afraid the South Korean military would find out he was talking to the media. He faces charges for having sexual relations with another man, a crime within the South… Read more »
Chinese attitudes towards gay rights
Despite a historically relaxed view of homosexuality, China seems reluctant to embrace gay rights When Taiwan’s highest court ruled on May 24th that marriage should not be limited to a man and a woman and ordered parliament either to change the law or award marriage rights to gay couples within two years, the official media… Read more »
Ban on blood donations from gay men could be relaxed in Hong Kong
A ban on gay men donating blood in Hong Kong may soon be lifted. The Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service in Hong Kong announced that it would review the current permanent ban that prevents gay men from donating blood. The decision to review the policy came after a Christian student group protested the current ban.… Read more »
Cambodia’s LGBT Community Finds Its Voice With Q Magazine
Phnom Penh: Cambodia, a country known for its abysmal human rights record and gender inequality, is now home to a print magazine geared toward the LGBT community and its allies. Q Cambodia, the country’s first gay magazine, seeks to entertain, inform and bring more visibility to the community through interviews, stories and photos of both… Read more »
Japanese city of two million becomes biggest to recognise same-sex partnerships
Two million more people can have their same-sex relationships legally recognised from today. Sapporo became the first major city in Japan to issue official partnership vow papers to those who wish to enter a legal same-sex union. And the city on the northern island of Hokkaido will also recognise heterosexual relationships involving at least one… Read more »
Chao Xiaomi leads China’s fight for transgender rights
Clad in a fur shawl, a black silk dress and blood-red six-inch heels, Chao Xiaomi struts down a Beijing alley. Jaws drop. Some stare in awe. Others point and laugh. And some shake their heads and snicker. But Chao, who is biologically male but identifies as “gender fluid” and goes as “she,” is used to… Read more »
Indonesian province introduces new police taskforce targeting LGBT citizens in latest crackdown
Homosexuality legal in majority of country but human rights advocates increasingly concerned by persecution and harassment of gay and transgender people Police in Indonesia’s most populous province plan to deploy a taskforce to investigate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activity, a move likely to fuel concerns of a widening crackdown on the community in the… Read more »
A South Korean soldier has been convicted for being gay
A soldier in South Korea has been handed a prison sentence for being gay. The soldier has received a suspended sentence for a year, after he was convicted for having sex with another male soldier. According to reports on the Yonhap News Agency, the sex was in a private residence and consensual. “It is a… Read more »
Indonesian men caned for gay sex in Aceh
Two men have been caned 83 times each in the Indonesian province of Aceh after being caught having sex. The men stood on stage in white gowns praying while a team of hooded men lashed their backs with a cane. The pair, aged 20 and 23, were found in bed together by vigilantes who entered… Read more »
Indonesia Police Arrest 141 Men Accused of Having Gay Sex Party
Jakarta, Indonesia — The police in Indonesia have arrested 141 men at a sauna in the capital on suspicion of having a gay sex party, the latest crackdown on homosexuality in the country. After the arrests in Jakarta on Sunday night, the police released to local news organizations numerous photographs of shirtless men who had… Read more »
Jakarta gay club raid leads to more than 100 men arrested
More than 100 men have been arrested for pornography, a crime that can carry a jail sentence, during a police raid on the Atlantis gay club in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. About 140 men were detained for questioning. Andreas Harsono from Human Rights Watch told the ABC some of the men were naked in a… Read more »
Bangladesh students arrested on suspicion of ‘being gay’
Police in Bangladesh have arrested 27 men “for homosexuality.” Same-sex relations are a crime in the conservative Muslim-majority country. An elite police unit detained the men early Friday in a raid on a community center at Keraniganj, south of the nation’s capital, Dhaka. “We’ve arrested 27 people for homosexuality. They are homosexuals. They held a… Read more »
27 men arrested on suspicion of being gay
27 men have been arrested for being gay, a crime punishable by life imprisonment in Bangladesh. The men, mostly students aged 20 to 30, had travelled from across the country to hold a party at a community centre in Keraniganj, outside the country’s capital of Dhaka. The arrests were made by the Rapid Action Battalion,… Read more »
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 the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer community say… Read more »
Govt Details $460 Million Plan to Combat HIV/AIDS
Rangoon — The Union minister for Health and Sports Dr. Myint Htwe announced details of a US$460 million plan to combat HIV/AIDS in Burma at an event in Naypyidaw on Wednesday. The Burmese government will contribute 18 percent of the budget with the rest funded by international organizations and NGOs—including the Global Fund to Fight… Read more »
Sharia court sentences gay men to public lashing in Indonesia
A Sharia court in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province sentenced two gay men to a public caning Wednesday. The men, ages 20 and 23, were arrested in March by vigilantes within their community in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province. They were subsequently found guilty of violating Aceh’s strict Islamic laws and were sentenced to… Read more »
Army life: more gay-friendly in China than United States or Britain?
Despite decision not to censor gay scene in Beauty and the Beast, Beijing is not noted for its tolerance of the LGBT community. Even so, its military may be less biased against gay servicemen than its Western counterparts With its uncompromising image, the People’s Liberation Army of China may seem an unlikely employer of choice… Read more »
To reduce stigma, metro in Kerala, India hires transgender workers
One of southern India’s most popular tourist spots set an international precedent this week while also laying bare South Asia’s convoluted history with gender politics by giving 23 jobs on its new metro system to transgender people. The crew will start working at the metro’s ticket counters and on housekeeping teams in the city of… Read more »
Indian train network makes history by employing transgender workers
An initiative offering jobs to a handful of members of Kerala’s hijra community aims to tackle prejudice and bring transgender people into the mainstream They used to beg on India’s train network, but this month, for the first time, transgender women will have proper jobs, serving passengers and selling tickets in the south Indian city… Read more »
Give 80 lashings to men arrested for having gay sex, prosecutors urge judge
Two Indonesian men arrested for having gay sex have been told their punishment should be 80 lashes in public. The 20 and 23-year-old defendants reportedly appeared at the Shariah court last night without a lawyer, and heard the prosecution tell the judge they should receive 80 lashings with a cane. The case in Banda Aceh… Read more »
One of the most powerful countries in the world has elected an anti-gay president
One of the most powerful countries in the world has reportedly elected a man who says he opposes homosexuality to be president. Voters in South Korea, the eleventh richest nation on earth, have seemingly handed a sizeable victory to Moon Jae-in, a former human rights lawyer. Exit polls conducted jointly by three TV stations have… Read more »
Here are 12 pictures of Tokyo Pride which will make your day
Tokyo’s Rainbow Pride parade is always a sight to behold – and this year smashed all expectations. A record 6,000 people attended the event yesterday, in the Shibuya district of the Japanese capital. The parade, which has taken place every year since 2012, was given the theme “Change” this year, and 23 floats did their… Read more »
Tokyo Rainbow Pride participants march for ‘change’ in LGBT recognition
Thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people paraded through Tokyo’s Shibuya district on Sunday to express hope that Japan will further embrace gender equality and diversity. The LGBT parade was the finale to the annual Tokyo Rainbow Pride festival, and this year’s theme was “Change.” “I believed that nothing would change. But, little by… Read more »
Staggering amounts of US LGBT discrimination revealed
One in four LGBT people in the US have experienced discrimination because of their sexual orientation, new research has revealed. The survey, conducted by the Centre for American Progress, included episodes of discrimination which took place during the previous year, both at work and in public. In the workplace, between 11 percent and 28 percent… Read more »
South Korea Military Is Accused of Cracking Down on Gay Soldiers
Seoul, South Korea — At a time when South Korea is struggling to deter North Korea’s nuclear threats, human rights advocates say its military is targeting gay soldiers in its ranks. In recent weeks, the army has focused on dozens of those soldiers in what rights groups say is a campaign against gay men in… Read more »
A North Korean Defector Shares What It’s Like to be Gay in the Pariah State
A man who defected from North Korea has described what it was like to be gay in the hermit kingdom. Jang Yeong-jin crossed the border into China in 1966 and spent more than a year struggling to find his way to South Korea where defectors are treated as refugees. China generally considers defectors to be… Read more »
A backlash against same-sex marriage tests Taiwan’s reputation for gay rights
Taipei, Taiwan — The gay rights activists raised sticks of incense and appealed to Taiwan’s most popular deity: Mazu, Goddess of the sea, protect us. Or rather, Mazu, Goddess of the sea, protect us, too. Just months ago, Taiwan appeared to be on the verge of legalizing same-sex marriage. It was to become the first… Read more »
After sex video, S. Korea accused of targeting gay soldiers
Seoul, South Korea — A watchdog group says South Korea’s army is hunting down and prosecuting gay servicemen after a video of two male soldiers having sex was posted on the internet earlier this year, stoking fear in an already persecuted minority group. Military investigators looking into the case have threatened soldiers to out their… Read more »
Bangkok plans to ban all street food by year’s end
The Thai capital’s world famous street food scene may soon be a thing of the past. Authorities say they want to impose order and cleanliness, but for many street food is a part of the culture. All street food stalls will be cleared from Bangkok’s roads by the end of the year in a bid… Read more »
Straight Asian Men Love To Kiss!
Japan’s thoughts on LGBT life still need a little work, but they might be getting some unexpected help. On the underground, Japan has a busy and thriving gay culture. Populated areas have plenty of gay centers and spots for LGBT people. In addition, the country originated the comic genres of Yaoi and Bara, which caters… Read more »
Chinese tour operators halt travel to North Korea
Amid escalating military tension on the Korean Peninsula, Chinese tour operators have canceled travel packages to North Korea, according to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post. The report said Sunday that state-owned China International Travel Services and Ctrip.com International — the biggest tour operators in the country — had halted travel to North Korea. Air… Read more »
Indonesia’s LGBT community survives despite growing threats from government, clerics
Indonesia’s reigning transgender beauty queen holds her head up high as a wave of intolerance sweeps across Indonesia. Kiki, or Qie Nabh Tappiii, became Miss Waria Indonesia at a time when Indonesian officials, clerics and even government ministers regularly launch verbal assaults on the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Waria is the… Read more »
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