Asia
A New Gay Webseries That is Worth Your Health
A New Gay Webseries That is Worth Your Health Gayok Bangkok The Series, a webseries following the lives of six diverse gay men living in Bangkok and their drama – relationship, career, family and, most of all, sexual health – in a manner that Asian gay men can truly relate with will premiere on February… Read more »
Thousands March To Protest India’s Law Criminalizing Gay Sex
More than 7,000 people participated in Mumbai’s annual Pride March. Organized by the Queer Azaadi Mumbai collective, marchers stepped off at Tardeo’s August Kranti Maidan, a park in central Mumbai, and wound their way through the streets of Mumbai, the Times of India reported. The marchers were united in their opposition to a law that… Read more »
India’s Supreme Court Will Reexamine Law Banning Gay Sex
India’s Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it would reexamine its decision upholding a law that criminalizes gay sex. In 2009 – just days after gay activists staged Gay Pride parades in several cities for the first time – the Delhi High Court of India declared intercourse between two consenting members of the same sex legal.… Read more »
Gay people in Burma live secret lives. Will Aung San Suu Kyi liberate them?
“I know some people like ‘they’, but I don’t mind. You can use ‘he’ or ‘she’,” Htike Myat Kalyar Khin Khin Win says earnestly in English, showing an impressive grip of foreign pronouns, when I ask how she wants to be referred to in this article. Htike Myat is a 23-year-old transgender Burmese entrepreneur, with… Read more »
LGBT rights: ‘A struggle within the struggle’
Aung Myo Min is a human rights activist and former Aall Burma Students’ Democratic Front member, which he left because the student army couldn’t accept his homosexuality. Today he fights for the recognition of LGBT people rights and is also the founder of Equality Myanmar. He was at the the &PROUD Film Festival last week,… Read more »
Vietnam’s schools remain dangerous for LGBT youth
Vietnam abolished its ban on same-sex marriage at the beginning of 2015, much to the praise of activists. The move set Vietnam apart from most other countries in the region. However, a year on there are reports that not much has changed for LGBT’s day to day lives. A report from the English-language website of… Read more »
Indonesia tackles homophobic harassment by Muslim hardliners
An Indonesian mayor has reprimanded a hardline Muslim group targeting homosexuals in the country’s third largest city, Bandung. Government officials have ordered Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) to remove homophobic banners that call on gays and lesbians to leave the city. Last week the FPI raided boarding houses in the city where they believed gay people… Read more »
LGBTI taxi service launched in India
India’s first taxi service run by LGBT was announced in Mumbai last week. Wings Rainbow, a radio taxi service launched by Wings Travels and Humsafar Trust, hopes to empower members of the LGBT community by providing a dignified livelihood. The service is launching with three transgender women drivers and two gay men. They will undergo… Read more »
Couple’s Lawsuit Is First Test for Same-Sex Marriage in China
Changsha, China — The two young men met through an online chat group. They began seeing each other every day. Long walks in the park. Movies and barhopping. Dinner with grandparents. On their first anniversary, in June, the men, Sun Wenlin and Hu Mingliang, tried to register to marry at a local civil affairs bureau… Read more »
LGBT Indonesians on campus: too hot to handle
Although same-sex practices and gender non-conformity have always been part of Indonesian culture, universities appear unaware or unwilling to acknowledge this fact. Photo by Flickr user torbakhopper. On the weekend, controversy over a support group for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) students at the University of Indonesia led Muhammad Nasir, the minister of research,… Read more »
First Chinese same-sex marriage lawsuit gets hearing next week
The first lawsuit to challenge China’s ban on same-sex marriage will go to court next week. Filed by a gay man in Changsha, the lawsuit names a civil affairs bureau in the capital of the Hunan Province, for refusing to receive his marriage registration application. The lawsuit is believed to be the first to challenge… Read more »
LGBT activists rally as Hong Kong government delays discrimination legislation
Nine LGBT groups have released a strong joint statement criticising the government for a decision to delay legislation to protect sexual minorities from discrimination at a press conference last week A long awaited report by Hong Kong’s government into eliminating discrimination against sexual minorities has concluded that “more studies and public consultation are needed” on… Read more »
Armenia’s Ostracized Minority
A photographer challenges bias and hate in Yerevan I didn’t know much about Yerevan’s LGBT community when in, in 2010, I decided to start documenting their everyday lives. But like everyone else in the city, I knew that there was a park called Komaygi in front of the mayor’s office where cross-dressers and transgender people… Read more »
China passes first domestic violence law, gay couples excluded
China’s largely rubber stamp parliament on Sunday passed the country’s first law against domestic violence, which covers unmarried people who cohabit but does not protect gay couples, a senior lawmaker said. China previously did not have a special law covering violence in the family, an issue often ignored to avoid bringing shame upon the family… Read more »
Another Japanese city to recognise same-sex relationships
The city will become the fourth district in Japan to strengthen its LGBT rights. The city of Iga in Mie Prefecture has announced plans to start issuing certificates recognising same-sex partnerships as being equivalent to marriage. The certificates will be issued from next April onwards, in a bid to address discrimination against the LGBT community,… Read more »
First lawsuit challenges Chinese same-sex marriage ban
What is believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind has been filed, challenging China’s ban on same-sex marriage. Filed by a gay man in Changsha, the lawsuit names a civil affairs bureau in the capital of the Hunan Province, for refusing to receive his marriage registration application. The lawsuit is believed to be… Read more »
Report highlights extensive bullying of LGBT students in Cambodia
A report released by the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) reveals six out of ten students experience bullying at school due to their sexuality. In the report, “LGBT Bullying in Cambodian Schools,” 62% of the people surveyed said they had experienced bullying in school, nearly all of those who did (94%) said they felt… Read more »
For many LGBTs, a secret life
LGBT Cambodians face a formidable level of prejudice and discrimination, which for many means a life lived in secrecy and isolation, a major new study of attitudes has revealed. The survey of almost 1,600 people, straight and LGBT, across seven provinces, published yesterday, found that a third of the 478 LGBT people questioned had not… Read more »
India judge: It was a ‘mistake’ to recriminalise homosexuality
A prominent former judge in India has hit out at the decision to re-criminalise homosexuality in the country. Justice Ajit Prakash Shah was serving as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court at the time of a landmark 2009 case, which led to the country’s colonial era sodomy law being thrown out. Justice Shah ruled that… Read more »
Poll reveals that majority of Japanese support same-sex marriage
Poll results were released last month that show a majority of Japanese citizenships support changing the country’s laws to allow same-sex unions. Fifty-one percent of people polled by researchers from the National Institute of Population, Social Security Research and Japanese Universities back legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The poll quizzed 1,259 men and women between… Read more »
Hate Crime Acquittal Highlights Institutionalized Homophobia in Georgia
On October 23, 2015, a Tbilisi court acquitted four individuals for their involvement in a violent anti-LGBT rally that took place in Georgia in 2013. The group on trial was accused of inciting violence at a peaceful demonstration held on the International Day Against Homophobia on May 17, 2013. The pro-LGBT rally, which consisted of… Read more »
Watch: Delhi pride parade
Organisers said that while they celebrated growing acceptance of LGBT in the country they also wanted to highlight ongoing discrimination. Harsh Aggarwal, who runs a digital marketing company in New Delhi, said that there has been progress, though it has come slowly. “But it’s happening,” he said. “There are more people who are coming out… Read more »
This guy explains what it is like growing old with HIV in Malaysia
Andrew Tan from Malaysia, was diagnosed with HIV in 1994. He was 24 years-old at that time and didn’t expect to live beyond his twenties. Today he is 55 years-old and open about his status and being a gay man. As another World AIDS Day is marked, UNAIDS speaks with Mr Tan about his many… Read more »
Gay rights activists in China challenge homophobic textbooks
LGBT student activists have met with government officials from the Ministry of Education to remove textbooks which identify homosexuality as a mental disorder. LGBT activist Chen Qiuyuan has been lobbying the Ministry of Education in Beijing to remove textbooks from schools and universities that classify homosexuality as a mental disorder. In May Chen, a 20… Read more »
Dhanak – A Queer Group from JNU
Dhanak – A Queer Group from JNU Yesterday at 1:21am · Edited · All we do is ‘Hullad’ – JNU wallahs at the 8th Delhi Queer Pride smile emoticon THE RAINBOW BRIGADE! ?#?pride4azadi? Delhi queer pride parade 2015 part 15 Raat ko 12 baje delhi mein hullad hua YouTube.Com Dhanak – A Queer Group from… Read more »
A Dream Deferred: A Look At Transgender Discrimination In Thailand
Sadly, visibility doesn’t always align with formal acceptance. Bangkok, Thailand – Warat “Bai Thong” Tanasanti was a brilliant student who dreamed of becoming a lawyer. Her dreams came to a screeching halt, however, when she realized that this wasn’t possible. The reason for the 24-year old’s struggle has nothing to do with her qualifications or… Read more »
Gay Mongolia: Discover Mongolia’s Only Gay Bar
During our travels in Mongolia, we spent a lot of time in the capital city, Ulan Bator during the popular Naadam festival, where we discovered a subtle gay scene. Despite being a very traditionally conservative country, we found Mongolia’s only gay bar called Hanzo, which has since rebranded and re opened (from June 2015) under… Read more »
Third Japanese district to recognise gay relationships
A third Japanese district will soon recognise same-sex relationship with partnership certificates. The city of Takarazuka yesterday announced that it will follow in the footsteps of two Tokyo districts in recognising same-sex relationships. As well as officially recognising the relationships, the city also hopes to fuel a debate on equal marriage. The new certificates will… Read more »
New poll shows majority of Japanese support marriage equality
Many people support a change in the law, results show. According to a new poll carried out in Japan, the majority of people support changing the country’s laws to allow same-sex marriage. Support for same-sex marriage was much higher in younger age groups, with over 70 per cent 20-40 year olds backing the move. Despite… Read more »
Gay rights activists celebrate degree of gains in India as they march in New Delhi parade
New Delhi – Hundreds of gay rights activists danced to drum beats and held colorful balloons as they marched in a parade in New Delhi on Sunday, celebrating what they call the diversity of gender and sexuality. Organizers said that while the gay pride parade celebrated the gains India’s LGBT community has made in recent… Read more »
Indian minister says country’s gay sex ban needs to be ‘reconsidered’
Arun Jaitley says India cannot simply ‘nudge off’ its LGBT community. India’s finance minister has spoken out against the harsh laws criminalising gay sex in the country. Arun Jaitley says that the country must reconsider the “conservative” ruling made by the Supreme Court in 2013, as it ignores the needs of “millions of people” across… Read more »
HIV on the wane but high risk groups still cause for concern
Mumbai: When World AIDS Day is observed across the globe on December 1, India will enter the third—and perhaps the most perplexing—decade of its HIV/AIDS epidemic. The first 29 years were marked with victory as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) metamorphosed from being the deadliest word in public health to just another chronic disease such… Read more »
Queer Southeast Asia: Recognition, Respect & Legitimacy
Over the past few decades, diverse new cultures and communities based on same-sex preference and transgender identity have become increasingly prominent in all the countries of Southeast Asia. Across the cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity of region, and despite the distinctive colonial and semicolonial political histories of the modern states of Southeast Asia (see Jackson… Read more »
Queer Southeast Asia: Recognition, Respect & Legitimacy
Over the past few decades, diverse new cultures and communities based on same-sex preference and transgender identity have become increasingly prominent in all the countries of Southeast Asia. Across the cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity of region, and despite the distinctive colonial and semicolonial political histories of the modern states of Southeast Asia (see Jackson… Read more »
Queer Southeast Asia: Recognition, Respect & Legitimacy
Over the past few decades, diverse new cultures and communities based on same-sex preference and transgender identity have become increasingly prominent in all the countries of Southeast Asia. Across the cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity of region, and despite the distinctive colonial and semicolonial political histories of the modern states of Southeast Asia (see Jackson… Read more »
Queer Southeast Asia: Recognition, Respect & Legitimacy
Over the past few decades, diverse new cultures and communities based on same-sex preference and transgender identity have become increasingly prominent in all the countries of Southeast Asia. Across the cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity of region, and despite the distinctive colonial and semicolonial political histories of the modern states of Southeast Asia (see Jackson… Read more »
Queer Southeast Asia: Recognition, Respect & Legitimacy
Over the past few decades, diverse new cultures and communities based on same-sex preference and transgender identity have become increasingly prominent in all the countries of Southeast Asia. Across the cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity of region, and despite the distinctive colonial and semicolonial political histories of the modern states of Southeast Asia (see Jackson… Read more »
Fighting HIV Among MSM and Transgender Individuals in Myanmar
In March 2011, Myanmar’s 50-year old military junta officially ended the world’s longest-running military dictatorship and opened the nation’s previously impermeable borders to international economic and political groups—from Coca-Cola® to the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In November 2015, as Nobel Peace laureate and democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party… Read more »
Treating More HIV Patients in More Places: Myanmar’s Next Challenge
Between 2011 and 2014, Myanmar more than doubled the number of people living with HIV who are on long-term antiretroviral-therapy (ART), the gold standard for HIV treatment. This is fantastic news. Furthermore, while Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) continues to be one of the biggest providers of HIV care in Myanmar, currently treating 35,000 patients across… Read more »
Officially Recognized But Publicly Shamed: Transgender Life in Pakistan
One Friday night earlier this year, a nervous but meticulously made-up crowd of transgender women sat in the upper circle of the smart Al Hamra Arts complex in Lahore, Pakistan. Bored with waiting for the performance to begin, one and then all of them stood up to take in a better view of the surroundings.… Read more »
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