Asia
World’s First Three-Way Gay Marriage Takes Place In Thailand
Valentine’s Day 2015 will be infamous for more than the release of the film version of 50 Shades of Grey. It also witnessed the world’s first recorded polygamous gay marriage, as Joke, 29, Bell, 21 and Art, 26 tied the knot. Watchers of The Hangover Part 2 will not be surprised to learn that the… Read more »
How to protest Russia-style anti-gay bill in Kyrgyzstan
LGBTI rights activists are seeking international support for their attempts to block a proposed Kyrgyz law that would be even harsher than Russia’s anti-“gay propaganda” law. Unlike the Russian law, the Kyrgyz proposal would provide for imprisonment for mentioning homosexuality or advocating LGBTI rights. Labrys, the LGBTI group in Kyrgyzstan, would be outlawed if the… Read more »
China’s “homowives” are becoming unlikely champions for gay rights
After her marriage was over, just looking at a wedding photo would make Qiu Xuan feel awful. The 29-year-old, a video editor at a communications company in Guangzhou, could tell by the picture that she wasn’t half of a happy couple that day, even though she was the one wearing a white veil. The photo… Read more »
Families must end LGBTI violence and improve rights in Asia
Bangkok (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Some of those most guilty of violence and discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people in Asia are their families, which must instead play a key role in improving LGBTI rights, activists from the region said. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) in Asia face the threat of… Read more »
Committee urges Nepal to legalise equal marriage
A committee in Nepal has urged the country to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. The recommendation was made in the wake of a 2007 ruling by the Nepalese Supreme Court, stating that the government must provide legal protections to LGBT Nepalese citizens and amend laws that discriminated against them. As part of the ruling,… Read more »
LGBT students may be ready to come out, but are Japan’s schools ready to accept them?
When university student Osamu Inoue, 19, came out openly in high school two years ago and admitted he was gay, he had hoped that at least his school would have adopted a more positive attitude toward sexual minorities. That wasn’t the case, however. “Nothing was done at the school to mend the situation in which… Read more »
What happens to gay people in North Korea?
Defectors reveal what life is like for LGBTI people in the hermit kingdom Are there gay people in North Korea? That was the question posed to four defectors on the NK News website, perhaps prompted by a CCTV photo released last month of two male soldiers kissing upward of the DMZ. All four unidentified defectors… Read more »
ICAAP meet touted as a game changer for HIV/AIDS patients in Bangladesh
The upcoming international conference on AIDS in Dhaka has raised hopes that people living with HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh will finally be freed from social stigma. “This year is critical for us for raising public awareness, building political commitment and strengthening our network and knowledge,” Habiba Akhter, Executive Director of the Ashar Alo Society that works… Read more »
Ending AIDS
Far West, with the greatest proportions of seasonal migrants, needs special focus Fourteen-year-old Kali Bogati was born in Doti’s Kadamadu VDC with HIV, passed down by her infected mother. The virus claimed her within a year of Kali’s birth and within the next three years, her father had succumbed too, leaving her without any loving… Read more »
And if so, what happens to them when other people find out?
Are there gay people in North Korea?Every week we ask a North Korean your questions, giving you the chance to learn more about the country we know so little about. This week Michael from Phnom Penh asks: I’m just curious as to gay and lesbian life and culture in North Korea. Is there in fact… Read more »
Philippines: Vigan City bans anti-gay hate
Historic city passes the country’s broadest anti-discrimination ordinance yet Historic Vigan has become the lastest city in the Philippines to ban anti-gay hate. The anti-discrimination ordinance (ADO) covering sexual orientation and gender identity was passed in November but was embargoed until last week pending further study. Like similar laws in other parts of the southeast… Read more »
Singapore blogger found guilty of contempt for post criticizing anti-gay law
Prominent LGBTI rights activist could face jail time Singaporean LGBTI rights activist and blogger Alex Au has been found guilty for a post critical of the city’s anti-gay law. The High Court yesterday (22 January) ruled that the article published in October 2013 posed ‘a real threat of undermining public confidence in the administration of… Read more »
North Korea soldiers spotted sharing gay kiss on CCTV
Netizens worry about the safety of the two men Two North Korean soldiers have been spotted sharing a gay kiss on South Korean CCTV. The images were widely shared on Korean media this week leading netizens to worry for the safety of the two men. ‘I’m pretty sure they’ll be killed if they’re caught,’ one… Read more »
The bitter truth behind Thailand’s gay-friendly image
Deutsche Presse-Agentur – The latest research suggests more than half of us believe homosexuality is morally wrong – a prejudice that’s reflected in the law In Bangkok’s lively Silom district, customers pile into a small, noisy gay bar on a busy Saturday night. Chakgai Jermkwan and his partner Sean L’Estrange co-own the popular venue, which… Read more »
Lesbian couple first to ‘adopt’ child in indigenous ceremony
The adoption ceremony held in traditional in Rukai culture is not known to have been held for a same-sex couple before. A lesbian couple belonging to a rural community in Taiwan has became the first aboriginal couple there to adopt a child even though current national laws forbid marriage between same-sex couples and bar the… Read more »
Special jails for transgender and gay prisoners proposed in Vietnam
According to an official report, gay and transgender prisoners face the highest risk of sexual harassment from other inmates in prison. Vietnam may be considering housing transgender and gay prisoners in jails separate from those currently in use so as to protect them from sexual harassment. This plan has been proposed by the Social, Economic… Read more »
Japan’s gay community highly stratified by body type and age
Japanese gay media have promoted a gay identity linked to youth, masculinity and highly gym-trained bodies as being highly desirable, says a social researcher. Gay men’s identity in Japan are subject to stereotypical categories based upon media created ideas of an idealized depiction of youth, body type and modes of consumption, says a social researcher… Read more »
Japan’s gay community highly stratified by body type and age
Japanese gay media have promoted a gay identity linked to youth, masculinity and highly gym-trained bodies as being highly desirable, says a social researcher. Gay men’s identity in Japan are subject to stereotypical categories based upon media created ideas of an idealized depiction of youth, body type and modes of consumption, says a social researcher… Read more »
Koreans go gaga over ‘drag queen’ musicals
Recent musicals have included very popular drag queen characters in one of the lead roles, lending to a new trend and successfully drawing out a curious audience. Broadway musicals featuring drag queens are becoming immensely popular among Koreans and setting a trend for the music scene in South Korea. “Recent musicals have included very popular… Read more »
Thai Constitution’s Draft Would Protect LGBT Rights
Bangkok (AP) — Gay rights activists are welcoming a clause in a draft of Thailand’s new constitution that is aimed at protecting the rights of gay and transgender people. The Constitution Drafting Committee, a group hand-picked by the military junta to draft a new charter after last year’s coup, this week added the wording that… Read more »
European Parliament urges Kyrgyzstan to drop anti-gay bill
Kyrgyzstan has been urged by the European Parliament to drop an anti-gay bill. The bill is similar to one introduced in Russia law last year, banning the “promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships”. The Kyrgyz bill outlaws the dissemination of information “aimed at forming positive attitudes toward non-traditional sexual relations.” Persons found guilty under this law… Read more »
Thailand to recognize ‘third gender’ in new constitution: panel
Bangkok (Reuters) – Thailand’s constitution will include the term “third gender” for the first time, a member of a panel drafting a new charter said on Thursday, in a move to empower transgender and gay communities and ensure them fairer legal treatment. Thailand has a large gay community, but remains largely conservative, although homosexual, transgender… Read more »
New HIV prevention strategy to target injecting drug users, gay men, sex workers
The Health Protection Agency’s (HPA) new national strategy on HIV prevention will scale up prevention programmes in key affected populations of injecting drug users, sex workers, men who have sex with men. By 2016, the HPA aims to reach at least 60 percent of injecting drug users to promote the safe use of injecting equipment… Read more »
Arrests for ‘unnatural sex’ soar. So do cases of gay people being blackmailed
Six hundred people were arrested for under section 377 in 2014. However, the government did not say how many of those arrests were for consensual sex. Weeks after the Ministry of Home Affairs released figures saying that nearly 600 people had been arrested in 2014 under Section 377 in 2014, India’s queer community is cautious… Read more »
Vietnam Abolishes Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Taking Lead in Gay Rights
Vietnam taking the lead in gay rights in Southeast Asia by abolishing a ban on same-sex marriage has medical doctor Thuan Nguyen planning a wedding ceremony with his boyfriend of two years. “I am ready to have a wedding,” he said. “Many, many young people in love are optimistic about the acceptance of gay weddings.”… Read more »
Nepal to allow third gender on passports
The Nepalese government is to issue passports with a third gender option for citizens who do not identify as male or female. The country join neighbour India as one of the few countries that allow for a gender other than male or female to be listed in identity documents. Australia and New Zealand also allow… Read more »
Meet India’s first ever out transgender mayor
For the first time a transgender candidate has won a mayoral election in India. Madhu Kinnar, an independent candidate, won the election in the Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh Municipal Corporation by 4357 votes on 4 January. She beat the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Mahaveer Guruji, and was named the mayor of Raigarh. 35-year-old Kinnar previously worked as a… Read more »
600 homosexuals arrested in 2014
At least 750 cases were registered and 600 people arrested under Section 377 of Indian Penal Code in 2014 after Supreme Court struck down 2009 Delhi High Court verdict which decriminalised homosexuality. According to Home Ministry statistics, the country witnessed registration of 778 cases and 587 arrests under Section 377 until October. However, these numbers… Read more »
Strict sharia forces gays into hiding in Indonesia’s Aceh
Overwhelmed by fear, members of the main gay rights group in the Indonesian town of Banda Aceh started burning piles of documents outside their headquarters in late October, worried that the sharia police would raid them at any moment. Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh had weeks earlier passed an anti-homosexuality law that punishes anyone caught… Read more »
Gay rights activists rally in India’s capital to demand an end to discrimination against gays
New Delhi (AP) — In a story Nov. 30 about a gay rights parade in New Delhi, The Associated Press reported erroneously identified one of the participants, Rudrani Chettri, as a gay man. Chettri identifies herself as a transgender woman. A corrected version of the story is below: Indian gays, lesbians march for their rights… Read more »
LGBT members in Ho Chi Minh City take to the streets to promote diversity
About a thousand people flocked to the city’s Labor Culture Palace to honor individuals and organizations who made a difference to the LGBT community in Vietnam. About a thousand LGBT members and their friends in Vietnam’s commercial capital of Ho Chi Minh City took to the streets to promote diversity and honor individuals and organizations… Read more »
Malaysian court rules transgender people ‘mentally ill’
Bangkok, Thailand — There’s some good news for transgender Muslim women in Malaysia. An influential court ruling says police can’t persecute them under religious law just for wearing dresses and lipstick. Keeping the police away, however, may require a demeaning concession: getting certified as mentally ill. Malaysia is a bastion of conservative Islam, a tropical… Read more »
Ongoing fight for trans rights in Malaysia
Transgender people in Malaysia may soon have fewer legal barriers to expressing their gender freely, thanks to a recent ruling in a state appeals court. The Malaysia Court of Appeal in the city of Putrajaya ruled last month that three trans women were not bound by legal prohibitions on “impersonating” someone of the opposite gender.… Read more »
Government probe refutes corruption charges against Nepal gay group
‘It has for sure provided us extra energy to continue our campaign for rights’ An investigation by a Nepalese government agency has refuted allegations of corruption at the country’s largest LGBTI group. The Social Welfare Council (SWC) has released a report that rebutted charges of corruption and irregularities leveled against the Blue Diamond Society (BDS)… Read more »
Thousands march in first Quezon City pride
City commemorates 20th anniversary of the first pride in the Philippines More than 4,000 members and supporters of the LGBTI community took to the streets of Quezon City on Saturday (13 December) for the city’s first pride parade. The event commemorated the 20th anniversary of the first pride in the Philippines and was a ‘pet… Read more »
Shunkoin Temple In Kyoto Helps Japan’s Same-Sex Couples Tie The Knot
A Buddhist temple in Japan is offering LGBT couples a place to have symbolic wedding ceremonies — even though gay marriage is still illegal in the country. Japan allows same-sex marriage ceremonies within its borders, according to the Council On Foreign Relations, but these couples won’t be given the legal rights and privileges that heterosexual… Read more »
Cambodia commits to stopping new HIV infections by 2020
The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, has committed to stopping new HIV infections by 2020 and ensuring the sustainability of its HIV response. This comes as Cambodia allocates US$ 3.7 million of national funding to HIV treatment from 2015 to 2017. This is the first time that the government has earmarked funds for its… Read more »
American firm invests $30 million in Chinese gay dating app
Billing itself as the first of its kind in China, Blued, a popular gay dating app, is anything but with news that a group of American venture capitalists will be investing 30 million dollars in the start-up. The app combines the immediacy and locality-based functionality of similar applications like Grindr and Scruff, but also enables… Read more »
South Korea: LGBT protesters occupy Seoul City Hall after rights charter axed
A group of protesters have staged a sit-in at Seoul City Hall, after the government dropped plans for a human rights charter which banned discrimination against gays. The Seoul Metropolitan Government had been due to enact a charter next week, on December 10 – Human Rights Day – which included the right “not to be… Read more »
Closure of gay bars looms in Baguio
Baguio City, Benguet—Health officials asked the city government on Wednesday to close down gay bars to prevent the spread of the dreaded disease AIDS, which showed an upsurge in the past several months. Dra. Celiaflor Brillantes, head of the social hygiene clinic, said 80 percent of the 60 AIDS cases in the city have been… Read more »
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