Asia
Vietnam: Yes On Equality, No On Relationships
June brought two major decisions on LGBT rights on the part of Vietnam. The legal recognition of same-sex relationships was dropped from reforms of the law on marriage and families. But almost on the same day, Vietnam pledged to move towards a law against discrimination that would ensure equality for individuals on the basis of… Read more »
Commemorating LGBT Pride Month amid the chaos
Kristie A. Kenney, the United States Ambassador to Thailand, commemorated Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month together with people in the LGBT community and those who support diversity in Thailand. The reception was held at the Ambassador’s Residence in Bangkok on Thursday evening. “I hope you will find the opportunity to create new… Read more »
Kyrgyzstan parliament passes anti-gay propaganda law
Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyzstan’s parliament on June 17 has passed an anti-gay propaganda law that now makes any type of information on same-sex relations a crime punishable by fines and a jail sentence. Nicole Kiil-Nielsen of the European Parliament Delegation to Kyrgyzstan says it’s only been 16 years since Kyrgyzstan decriminalized same-sex relations. “It is unacceptable that… Read more »
LGBT community celebrates Pride Month in Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar: The LGBT community in Mongolia is celebrating Pride Month of June with live music, open discussion on equality rights and cultural events. Three events celebrating LGBT pride were being held in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, where half the country’s 2.7 million people live. The “LGBT Pride (‘Rainbow’) Month” events were organized with help… Read more »
‘Out and Proud’ documentary to examine LGBTQI issues
As the community celebrates Pride Month this June, GMA-7, in its effort to show its support to the LGBTQI community, will be airing a documentary called “Out and Proud”. The hour long special will attempt to answer the issues the LGBTQI people continue to face. In 2004, when GMA-7 launched the magazine TV show “Out!”,… Read more »
Muslim vigilantes attack ‘gay atheists’ in the Maldives
Maldives: A group of men dressed in shorts and T shirts and returning home from the gym were attacked by Muslim vigilantes for being ‘gay atheists.” “You homosexual atheists are destroying our country – we will not stand back and watch you do it,” the attackers said, accusing the men of “homosexuality” and” atheism.” The… Read more »
Muslim vigilantes attack ‘gay atheists’ in the Maldives
Maldives: A group of men dressed in shorts and T shirts and returning home from the gym were attacked by Muslim vigilantes for being ‘gay atheists.” “You homosexual atheists are destroying our country – we will not stand back and watch you do it,” the attackers said, accusing the men of “homosexuality” and” atheism.” The… Read more »
US, French German embassies take part in Korea Queer Cultural Festival
Seoul: Foreign diplomatic missions have for the first time participated in the annual Korea Queer Cultural Festival to demonstrate support that their countries have for the LGBT community in South Korea. “Our presence (at the Korea Queer Cultural Festival) is one way we can encourage progress on LGBT issues,” Markus Hatzelmann, first secretary at the… Read more »
More than 12,000 attend Hong Kong’s first Pink Dot festival
Hong Kong: More than 12,000 members of the LGBT community, their family and friends attended have attended Hong Kong’s first Pink Dot festival to celebrate diversity and equality. The event took place at Hong Kong’s waterfront Tamar Park on June 15, according to fridae.asia. It took on a Mardi Gras type atmosphere with people wearing… Read more »
Amnesty urges Tajikistan to stop ‘morality’ campaign against gay people
Tajikistan: Amnesty International has called on Tajikistan to immediately cease a new campaign of harassment and violence against gay people accused of “moral crimes.” Police across the country have in various raids seized more than 500 sex workers and a number of men suspected of “homosexual behavior” since June 6, reports Amnesty International. In one… Read more »
US Consul General supports gay rights in Vietnam
The US Consul General has promised to work and promote LGBT rights in Vietnam and enable the Vietnamese society to further equality and social acceptance in the country “LGBT people, especially youths – need to know they have allies, friends. Gay, straight, old and young – we must work together to promote acceptance and provide… Read more »
Vietnam’s counterfeit condom crisis
Bangkok – A new report warning that nearly half of the commercially-available condoms in Vietnam are of poor quality has health officials worried the country’s tenuous gains in safer sex habits could be at risk. “Anyone who buys condoms in the private market now faces the risk of using low quality condoms. It affects sex… Read more »
China: students vulnerable to HIV/AIDS
China’s gay students aged 15 to 24 are increasingly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and hence in need of a more targeted approach to curb the spread of infection, says a senior health official. “To contain the spread of HIV among youths, more forceful and targeted approaches are urgently needed, such as large-scale screening projects — like… Read more »
Hong Kong: British consulate banned from performing same-sex marriages
The British consulate in Hong Kong has been banned from performing same-sex marriages by the local government. Under secondary same-sex marriage legislation which came into effect last week, couples can marry in 23 British consulates across the world under British law where local law prohibits same-sex marriage, including Russia and China. The countries are Australia,… Read more »
Gay sex poses HIV threat for youth
More targeted approaches are needed to fight the increasing threat of HIV/AIDS among Chinese students aged 15 to 24, a senior health official said. “To contain the spread of HIV among youths, more forceful and targeted approaches are urgently needed, such as large-scale screening projects — like the one being carried out in Henan province… Read more »
India: Census finds half a million trans people
The first census in India to contain a third gender option has found nearly half a million trans people. The data from the census, conducted last year, found 490,000 people identified themselves as ‘third gender’, which is used to refer to trans and intersex people – known culturally as Hijras. According to the data, around… Read more »
Indian Census counts transgender people for the first time, finds half a million
The first ever count of India’s transgender population has found nearly 500,000 who were prepared to say they were transgender in filling out census papers – though activists say the real number may be far higher 490,000 people listed themselves as ‘third gender’ or transgender in India’s most recent census – the first time the… Read more »
Ant-gay Pakistan gets its first LGBTI themed book for children
Canada – A Toronto-based Pakistani author has written an LGBTI themed book for children in the hope that it will teach tolerance and further equality in Pakistan where same-sex relations are illegal. The book “My Chacha is gay” is billed as the first ever resource designed to teach Pakistani young people about different family arrangements.… Read more »
Kyrgyzstan urged by human rights groups to scrap anti-gay bills
The parliament in Kyrgyzstan is being urged to reject legislation which would ban “foreign agents” and “homosexual propaganda”. The Human Rights Watch (HRC) states that the bills are intended to criminalise “homosexual propaganda”, and to force restrictions onto small charities, in moves which could marginalise minorities. Introduced this month, the bills could be put to… Read more »
Chinese women find self emancipation in male gay erotica
China’s hugely popular male gay erotic stories are written mostly by women who project their wish for emancipation on gay community, say social analysts. ‘‘I think Chinese culture is still harsh on women in terms of how far they can go in developing a fantasy life or erotic art forms,’’ Katrien Jacobs, a Chinese researcher… Read more »
Indian election changes the battle over anti-LGBT law
In the eyes of many LGBT activists in India, the election victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in this month’s elections was a setback for efforts to overturn the country’s anti-homosexuality law. At the least, their work becomes more complicated now. The complications may affect upcoming proceedings before the Supreme Court, which has agreed to… Read more »
A Gay Film Festival in India Strikes a Chord
Mumbai — Building for the Art Deco Liberty Cinema in south Mumbai began in 1947, the year India won Independence from the British. It remains a symbol of freedom. On Wednesday evening, in a bar upstairs, women in salwar kameez and men in kurtas mingled, mopping brows in the Mumbai humidity between air kisses. A… Read more »
Small steps to equality
Being LGBT in Asia: The Philippines Country Report – released by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – highlights the continuing challenges faced by LGBT people in their daily lives. As Michael David C. Tan, who authored the country report, says, “there are success stories that seem… Read more »
Georgia Is A Terrible Place To Be Gay
Georgians tend to support EU integration but remain suspicious of so-called “European” values like LGBT rights. In Tbilisi, cops still enter gay-friendly clubs and demand to see IDs. With the powerful Orthodox Church reasserting traditional values, will Georgia stray from its supposedly devoutly pro-Western path? Few who are familiar with the recent history of Georgia,… Read more »
Social stigma puts Vietnam’s gay men at higher risk of HIV/AIDS
Despite the government’s pro-gay stance, society’s marginalizing and prejudice against men who have sex with men put them at a greater risk of contracting HIV, says UNAIDS. “The evidence clearly shows that MSM in Vietnam are a population at a higher HIV risk that requires focus,” said Christopher Fontaine, an adviser for UNAIDS, the Joint… Read more »
Beijing court agrees to hear gay ‘conversion therapy’ lawsuit
A Beijing court has agreed to hear a case against a Chinese clinic offering gay “conversion therapy” a move that activists hope will usher in an era or tolerance. The court has agreed to proceed with the lawsuit against Chongqing-based Xin Yu Piao Xiang for offering to turn gay men straight through hypnosis and also… Read more »
Beijing court agrees to hear gay ‘conversion therapy’ lawsuit
China: A Beijing court has agreed to hear a case against a Chinese clinic offering gay “conversion therapy” a move that activists hope will usher in an era or tolerance. The court has agreed to proceed with the lawsuit against Chongqing-based Xin Yu Piao Xiang for offering to turn gay men straight through hypnosis and… Read more »
Life As A Gay Man In Armenia
I am a 24-year-old LGBT/HIV activist from Armenia, where homosexuality was decriminalised only 11 years ago. I don’t know when I realised I was gay. I think it was around the age of 14 when I first thought I was different from my classmates. One of my classmates made comments while we were changing in… Read more »
Philippines Is Getting Better For Gays, But Discrimination Persists: UN Study
Gays are increasingly tolerated in Philippine society but discrimination persists and they remain vulnerable to hate crimes, according to a United Nations-backed study released Monday. Sexual activity is not a crime but same-sex marriage is not allowed and gay couples cannot adopt children, said the study funded by the UN Development Programme and the US… Read more »
Being gay in Pakistan: Where anti-gay serial killers are applauded
A recent case offers fresh cause for concern for the LGBT community. Lahore, Pakistan — Sitting at a coffee shop in a posh Lahore neighborhood, two young men hold a heated debate over the serial killer caught killing gay men in their city last month. “Gay rights are human rights,” says one, arguing that gays… Read more »
Japan: 70% of LGBT pupils bullied in school, 30% contemplate suicide
A new study in Japan has revealed 30% of LGBT school pupils have considered suicide after suffering from some of the highest rates of bullying in the country. The Japan Times reports this is the first large-scale study of its kind in the country. The report comes after a UK study found similar statistics, with… Read more »
Beijing police detain nine activists meeting to discuss anti-gay discrimination
Beijing police May 7 detained as many as nine civil society activists meeting for a seminar to discuss obstacles facing gay groups wishing to register as nongovernmental organizations in China. The group had advertised itself as an event examining “civil society and the state,” reported sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com. The report suspects that the arrests and detention were… Read more »
The Real Story Behind Brunei’s Sharia Laws Isn’t the One That Gay Rights Groups Are Telling You
Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei, is a cross between a Bond villain and Pastor Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church. In his oil-rich lair, Bolkiah has devised an evil plot to kill all the gays. At least, that’s what the Western press and U.S. LGBT groups are saying. Nine months ago, the Sultan promised… Read more »
‘Backward’ Philippine town boasts oldest gay pride parade in Asia
Pasuquin town in northern Philippines has this year once again conducted its gay pride festival, doing so annually since 1972 and making it the oldest recorded gay pride parade in Asia. The Manila Pride March bills itself as the “oldest gay pride march in Asia” having first started in 1994. But the annually organized gay… Read more »
HIV rising among men having sex with men in Vietnam
Hanoi, Vietnam (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Long overshadowed by the government’s attention to other at-risk groups, Vietnam is failing to stem HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM), a group that is hidden due to social stigma. “The evidence clearly shows that MSM in Vietnam are a population at a higher HIV risk… Read more »
Welcome to TestBKK
Whether you’re single, in a new relationship, part of a couple or enjoying the company of many, whether you like to suck or prefer to fuck, we all need to take care of our sexual health and wellbeing. Apart from using condoms and water-based lubricant, getting tested regularly for HIV is an important part of… Read more »
May Day in Uzbekistan: Once a popular holiday
The older generation fondly remembers Soviet May Day celebrations and is upset that the holiday is no longer celebrated. “May Day or as it is also called the Day of International Solidarity of Workers used the be the most joyful holiday after New Year’s,” claims 53-year-old Tashkent resident Margarita. “There was music in the city… Read more »
Being LGBT in Asia: The Philippine Country Report
Summary Being LGBT in Asia: the Philippines Country Report provides an overview of LGBT rights in the Philippines including the effects of laws, policies, culture and social attitudes, and religion, based on research, consultation and the National LGBT Community Dialogue. This overview is followed by an examination of the Philippines experience of protecting the rights… Read more »
Akie Abe, Japan’s First Lady, Joins Tokyo Gay Pride
Tokyo’s annual Gay Pride parade got a boost Sunday with the participation of Japan’s first lady Akie Abe, the wife of conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Thousands of people participated in the parade, the high point of Tokyo Rainbow Week 2014, which runs through May 6. Abe waved to parade watchers from a float and… Read more »
North Korean state news agency abuses UN official for being gay
A North Korean state news agency has resorted to anti-gay abuse of a UN official for criticizing the communist state’s human rights record. The Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) took to attacking Michael Kirby, chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights in North Korea, by calling him a “disgusting old lecher with a… Read more »
ADS
