Asia
LGBTQ+ RIGHTS Organisation APCOM Receives Funding From Canadian Government
The funding from Global Affairs Canada amounts to US$1.69 million Apcom, a Thailand-based not-for-profit organisation championing the rights and inclusion of LGBTQ+ communities in Asia-Pacific, has received the backing of the Canandian government. It is one of three organisations to receive about US$1.69 million in funding support from Global Affairs Canada. Apcom focuses on advancing… Read more »
Meet the brave transgender refugee staging the ‘world’s first’ LGBTQ+ Afghan protest
“Life before the Taliban was also not easy for us, but after the coming of the Taliban, everything was totally destroyed.” Afghanistan has never been a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people, but for trans women like Ozlam, the Taliban takeover in August 2021 plunged her into danger in a way she’d never experienced before. Overnight,… Read more »
LGBTQ+ RIGHTS ORGANISATION APCOM RECEIVES FUNDING FROM CANADIAN GOVERNMENT
The funding from Global Affairs Canada amounts to US$1.69 million Apcom, a Thailand-based not-for-profit organisation championing the rights and inclusion of LGBTQ+ communities in Asia-Pacific, has received the backing of the Canandian government. It is one of three organisations to receive about US$1.69 million in funding support from Global Affairs Canada. Apcom focuses on advancing… Read more »
India’s transgender population struggles with unhelpful hospitals and high costs
India’s transgender community faces many obstacles to accessing quality health care, especially when it comes to the costs of gender affirmation surgery. Manisha Khera, a transgender person from Mumbai, has been saving up for several years for a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and at a later stage a sex reassignment surgery (SRS) but finds the… Read more »
How Thailand Is Blazing Trails on Gay Rights, Legalizing Marijuana
Thailand is largely regarded as a conservative, deeply religious country, with a military prone to intervening in politics and a king for whom “revered worship” is stipulated in the constitution. It’s also the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis and the first in Southeast Asia to move toward legalizing same-sex unions. Such developments stand… Read more »
China’s Tsinghua University Punishes Students for LGBTQ Flags
Advocacy for LGBTQ people increasingly tough in Xi’s ChinaClampdown on sexual diversity has deepened in top universities Two students at one of China’s most prestigious universities were issued warnings for distributing LGBTQ rainbow flags, highlighting how the nation’s increasing intolerance for sexual diversity is extending further into campuses. The pair were reprimanded for placing 10… Read more »
Tokyo Plans Recognition of Same-Sex Unions, But Not Marriage Equality
The city of Tokyo has announced a plan to give legal recognition to same-sex unions, but they will not be the same as marriages. Officials with Tokyo’s metropolitan government have proposed offering a certificate to same-sex couples, which would give them access to joint apartment rentals, hospital visitations, and other privileges that are often limited… Read more »
What’s it like to travel the world as a nomadic trans couple?
When queer, trans couple Sujay and Erick first met, just over two years ago, they quickly realized they shared plenty in common. This included a love of traveling and discovering new countries and cultures. A joint Instagram (@twotransnomads) they set up now documents their travels. They talked to GayCities about their favorite locations and some… Read more »
Japan’s first trans march held in Tokyo’s Shinjuku area to raise awareness on rights
Tokyo – Japan’s first ever trans march was held in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward on Nov. 20, and called on people to recognize human rights and dignity for the transgender community. Some 400 participants marched for about 1.7 kilometers in the area surrounding Shinjuku Station and through high-rise buildings downtown, while holding up trans pride flags… Read more »
China to ban video games featuring same-sex relationships, ‘effeminate’ men and moral choices
China will ban video games featuring same-sex relationships, ‘effeminate’ men and moral choices, according to a leaked memo. The internal memo from a recent internal training by the state-backed gaming association was revealed by the South China Morning Post, lays out new restrictions for approving video games in China. According to the publication, the memo… Read more »
Afghanistan gay rights
As the Taliban appeared on every corner of Kabul, Marwa and her friend — both gay Afghans — took the drastic decision to become husband and wife. The hurried marriage was conducted with no ceremony or family around them. “I was telling myself that the Taliban would come and kill me,” the 24-year-old told AFP… Read more »
Hong Kong Gay Games postponed for one year
Organizers cite potential COVID-related travel restrictions Hong Kong – Officials with Gay Games Hong Kong 2022, the committee organizing the quadrennial international LGBTQ sports event scheduled to take place in Hong Kong in November 2022, announced on Sept. 15 that the Gay Games will be postponed for one year due to concerns over the COVID-19… Read more »
Gay Games in Hong Kong face attacks as China’s proxies target LGBT groups
Hong Kong — When Hong Kong was announced in 2017 as host of the 11th Gay Games next year, the first time the event would be held in Asia, it was a nod to the city’s status as a cosmopolitan place and a relative bright spot in the region for progressive causes. Now, attacks on… Read more »
Six Islamic militants sentenced to death for brutal murder of gay rights activists
Six members of an Islamic militant group have been sentenced to death for the brutal murder of two prominent Bangladeshi gay rights activists. Bangladesh’s LGBT+ community was left in shock in April 2016 when Xulhaz Mannan, 35, and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, 25, were found hacked to death in Mannan’s apartment. Mannan was the editor of… Read more »
Taliban cut Afghan man’s body into pieces to ‘show what they do with gay people’
A gay man in Afghanistan has described how the Taliban killed his boyfriend and “cut his body into pieces” to “show what they do with gay people”. The 26-year-old, going by the pseudonym of “Gabir” to protect his identity, told the i that he and his boyfriend were sitting in a restaurant together in Afghanistan’s… Read more »
Column: The Taliban’s return means death for LGBTQ Afghans. Biden, will you help?
President Biden is held in high regard in the LGBTQ community, largely for his “Meet the Press” interview in 2012, when as vice president he endorsed same-sex marriage ahead of President Obama. As the boss now, Biden has continued that support: bringing Pride Month celebrations back to the White House and creating an administration with… Read more »
Taliban promises to brutally execute gays if it regains power in Afghanistan
Gay people, a Taliban judge promised, will be prosecuted and executed by stoning or pushing a wall on top of them. A Taliban judge is promising that Sharia law will be reinstated in Afghanistan after coalition forces have left the country and the brutal Islamic force regains power. Gay people, he promised, will be prosecuted… Read more »
News cameraman dies after being beaten by a bloodthirsty mob protesting a pride parade
Authorities say the riot and death were “very unfortunate” but “violence happens everywhere.” A Georgian news cameraman has died after being beaten by a mob of anti-LGBTQ protestors who were angry over a planned Pride march in the former Soviet country. The parade was called off after protestors ransacked the Tblisi Pride office and beat… Read more »
China’s LGBTQ community is fading from rainbow to gray
Hong KongEditor’s note: CNN has launched the Meanwhile in China newsletter, a three-times-a-week update exploring what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. Sign up here. During this year’s Pride Month, soccer star Li Ying made history as China’s first female athlete to come out publicly as gay,… Read more »
Tbilisi Pride Organisers Receive Messages Of Support After Attack On Pride March
A Pride march has been cancelled in the capital city of Tbilisi in Georgia after the Tbilisi Pride headquarters was stormed in a violent demonstration by far-right groups on Monday, July 5, reports The Guardian. Among the victims of the demonstration were journalists who were reportedly beaten by protestors. The number of injured parties is… Read more »
South Korea says consensual sex act between male soldiers ‘bordered on rape’
Activists decry discrimination as court finds men guilty of indecency and hands down a six-month suspended sentence A South Korean military court has been accused of discriminating against sexual minorities after it found two male soldiers guilty of indecency for engaging in consensual oral sex. The ruling, which took place in March but emerged last… Read more »
How Taiwan Became the First in Asia To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
Source – YouTube
Gay Olympics: HK leaders label event ‘disgraceful’
Politicians have been warned for their biased views of the international event and the LGBTQ community Hong Kong’s leaders have been feuding over the upcoming Gay Games 2022 or Gay Olympics, and some politicians have been warned for their biased views of the LGBTQ community. The city will be the first in Asia to host… Read more »
The power of PRIDE: How Sri Lanka is celebrating the LGBTIQ+ community this year
June is Pride Month, when lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI+) communities across the world hold events that celebrate and affirm different sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. Pride, as opposed to shame or social stigma, is an opportunity to celebrate and bolster LBGTQI+ rights movements across the world. Pride events typically… Read more »
A Gold Medal for Homophobia in Japan
Japan’s Ruling Party Members Slur LGBT Community Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activists in Japan and their allies have for years been pressing the Diet, the national parliament, to introduce legislation that protects sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds for nondiscrimination. One proposed law – the Equality Act – is currently under… Read more »
First openly gay candidate runs for Vietnam’s National Assembly
Source – YouTube
No Escape From Hong Kong
New legislation lets the government block people from leaving. Mark another step in Hong Kong’s descent: On Wednesday the Legislative Council made it easier for the government to block Hong Kongers from leaving. The new legislation gives authorities the power to prevent Hong Kong residents and foreigners from boarding any plane or vessel docked in… Read more »
Together for 50 years, a lawsuit reminds China that love and marriage are very different things
A judge ruled that, while it was obvious the two women were a couple, marriage laws did not apply to their case This despite one of the women suffering from a mental disorder that required her sister to become her legal guardian After more than 50 years of living with her partner, a Chinese lesbian… Read more »
How a kiss with a pilot in an elevator changed this man’s life and could help fight LGBTQ discrimination in China
Beijing (CNN) – Former flight attendant Chai Cheng still has nightmares about the moment of passion that cost him everything. In October 2019, footage was leaked online of Chai kissing a male pilot from the same airline — China Southern, the country’s largest carrier. Both men were off duty, and the kiss — which has… Read more »
Homosexuality can be called a mental disorder, Chinese court rules; LGBT community disappointed
A Hong Kong social worker’s lawsuit in China challenging a widely used textbook that calls homosexuality a mental disorder has been rejected a second time An LGBT support group spokesman says the textbook’s description is as inaccurate as saying the sun revolves around the earth A Chinese court has upheld a ruling that a textbook… Read more »
2 men in Indonesia publicly caned 77 times for having consensual sex
Two men in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province were publicly caned 77 times each on Thursday for having engaged in consensual sex. The men, aged 27 and 29, were arrested in November after neighbors became suspicious of their relationship. They broke into their rented room and caught them having sex, according to Heru Triwijanarko, Aceh’s acting… Read more »
Bhutan parliament decriminalizes homosexuality, to delight of activists
Kathmandu, Nepal – A joint sitting of both houses of Bhutan’s parliament approved a bill on Thursday to legalize gay sex, making the tiny Himalayan kingdom the latest Asian nation to take steps towards easing restrictions on same-sex relationships. Sections 213 and 214 of the penal code had criminalized “unnatural sex,” widely interpreted as homosexuality.Lawmaker… Read more »
The brutal institutions ‘transforming’ China’s LGBT, nonconformist youth
Played out on social media, a dispute between a 17-year-old transgender woman and her parents has shone a spotlight on the country’s ‘schools’ that exist to ‘regulate’ the behaviour of teenagers In March 2018, when Huang Xiaodi turned 17, her family told her to return home to Jiangyin, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, so they… Read more »
Taiwan Same-Sex Couples Say ‘I Do’ At A First For Military Wedding
At a mass military wedding in Taiwan, two women became the first military officers to marry their same-sex civilian partners, Reuters reports. The Taiwanese defence ministry described the event as “open and progressive” and gave its blessings to all 188 couples married during the mass wedding. “I am hoping to boost the visibility of homosexuals… Read more »
Two lesbian couples marry in mass wedding held by Taiwan’s military
Taiwan is the only place in Asia to have legalized gay marriage, with more than 4,000 same-sex couples marrying since the legislation passed in May 2019. Taoyuan, Taiwan — Two lesbian couples tied the knot in a mass wedding held by Taiwan’s military on Friday in a historic celebration with their peers. Taiwan is the… Read more »
First openly gay election candidate in Myanmar: ‘I didn’t want to lie to get votes’
The first openly gay election candidate in Myanmar, Myo Min Tun, has vowed to fight police abuse of LGBT+ people if he wins. The 39-year-old entered politics after transgender friends told him the abuse they suffered. In one incident, officers forced them to take off their bras and kneel before touching them inappropriately. Myo Min… Read more »
Activists Demand An End To Forced Anal Exams In Sri Lanka
In shocking news out of Sri Lanka, a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Colombo-based Equal Ground, has shown that authorities had subjected seven LGBTQI persons to forcible anal and vaginal examinations between 2017-2020 looking for proof of homosexual conduct in their criminal prosecutions. In a statement Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, executive director of Colombo-based Equal… Read more »
Indian LGBT+ rights group launches landmark bid to ban conversion therapy after tragic death of bisexual woman
Following the suicide of a young bisexual woman in India, an LGBT+ rights group has filed a petition to the Kerala High Court seeking to ban the practice of conversion therapy. Queerala, an organisation based in Kerala for the safety of LGBT+ people, and Raghav, a board member of Malayalee Transmen Association (MATA), are behind… Read more »
Thailand’s Cabinet approves bills granting legal status to same-sex unions
Bangkok — Thailand’s Cabinet has approved two draft bills that would give same-sex unions legal status similar to that of heterosexual marriages. The draft Civil Partnership Act and amendments of the Civil and Commercial Code will be sent to Parliament soon for approval, deputy government spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek said after Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting. The Civil… Read more »
Thailand Leads Way in Southeast Asia With Same-Sex Union Bill
Thailand is set to be the first Southeast Asian country to legalize same-sex unions after the government approved a bill that will now head for parliament approval to become law. “This is an important step for Thailand in creating equality for everyone and guaranteeing rights for same-sex couples to start a family,” Rachada Dhnadirek, spokeswoman… Read more »
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