Asia
South Korea court overturns adults-only rating for gay kiss film
South Korea’s Supreme Court has deemed a gay romance film fit for people 15-and-over, overturning a Korea Media Rating Board decision that it was not fit for teenagers of any age to watch South Korean filmmaker Kim Jho Kwang-soo has won a four year battle with the Korea Media Rating Board to have an adults-only… Read more »
Sri Lanka gays forced underground as world leaders gather for summit
Commonwealth leaders have refused to discuss LGBTI issues at their summit in Colombo and now the Sri Lankan government is cracking down on dissent Sri Lankan gay activists have been threatened and ordered to keep silent as Commonwealth leaders gather in the country. The LGBTI campaigners say they have been forced underground, reflecting a wider… Read more »
Being gay in the DPRK
Overview suggests many North Koreans learn about being gay only upon departure from DPRK Ji Min, like nearly all other young North Korean men, took part in regular compulsory military training. Once a year, professionals from the cities such as him were drafted and sent off to do military service for about two weeks. Working… Read more »
From Bangladesh to Brooklyn: An LGBT Activist’s Story
When I ask Shakhawat Hossain if it’s true that he’s the first openly gay Bangladeshi, he quietly demurs. “Lately more Bangladeshis are coming out to their families, and they’re a lot more courageous than me.” The bespeckled, young activist is in the U.S. as part of his four-month Community Solutions fellowship, where he’s being hosted… Read more »
Hijras now a separate gender
They will be referred to as Hijras in both English and Bangla Hijras, who are neither male nor female, from now on will be considered as a separate gender in Bangladesh and will get priority for education and other rights. The decision was made at a Monday cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.… Read more »
Shadow Foreign Secretary: Sri Lanka is ‘heading in the wrong direction’ on LGBT rights
Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander has criticised Sri Lanka’s record on LGBT rights ahead of a Commonwealth summit. Commenting on a report by the Kaleidoscope Trust, the senior Labour MP told the Press Association that the country is “heading in the wrong direction”. “Today’s report from the Kaleidoscope Trust highlights the ongoing concern about human… Read more »
Fifth Hong Kong Pride bigger than ever
LGBT community in Hong Kong more visible than ever at fifth Hong Kong Pride Today’s Hong Kong Pride showed the LGBT community there are more visible than ever before The head of Hong Kong’s Equal Opportunity Commission Dr York Chow addressed the crowd, as did member of the legislative council Cyd Ho. This year, the… Read more »
Pakistan’s Gay Community Quietly Breaking Barriers
Actor Assad Khan is part of a generation of young men breaking barriers for gays in conservative Pakistan, where homosexuality is punished by prison or worse. Assad Khan knew he was different from a very young age. As a child at home he preferred playing with his two sisters rather than his two brothers. At… Read more »
LGBT forum in Korea faces resistance
Attempts to discuss Christian attitudes toward gay people at the World Council of Churches (WCC) meeting held in Busan were derailed by resistance to engaging with the issue, according to one of its key organizers on Tuesday. In a country where a number of protestant groups continue to be a source of high-volume bigotry, the… Read more »
Gay Marriage Popular In China (Sort Of)
“I am a 26-year-old woman from Shanghai, and I am looking for a boyfriend to marry in a year.” Yes, yes, we’ve heard all this before. Chinese women over the age of 27 can kiss their marriage plans and their future away because a 27-year-old woman is too old for any sensible Chinese man to… Read more »
India’s Gujarat State Holds First Gay Pride Parade
In a milestone moment for the Indian state of Gujarat, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents filled the streets for the area’s first-ever gay pride parade last weekend. More than 100 citizens came out for the event “bearing rainbow flags and banners and dancing to traditional music.” Many participants wore scarves and masks in an… Read more »
Philippines: Lawmaker files bill for LGBT desks in police stations to combat anti-gay killings
A Philippines Congresswoman has filed a bill seeking to reform police responsibility to anti-gay hate crimes by placing LGBT desks in every police station. The bill comes as an amendment to the Philippine National Police Reform and Reorganisation Act of 1998, which placed desks in police stations to handle crimes against women and children. Congresswoman… Read more »
Singapore keeps its ban on ‘grossly indecent act between males’
Judge dismisses challenge to anti-gay law, saying prohibition based on moral issue Singapore’s court has struck another blow to gay rights, refusing for the second time in this year to strike down a colonial law that criminalizes sex between men. The first Singaporean who had contested the law nearly three years ago, Tan Eng Hong,… Read more »
Lawmaker calls for ban on gay sex in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan lawmaker Bakhytbek Smagul has called for his country’s LGBT community to be driven underground and wants to outlaw same-sex relationships A lawmaker in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan wants to close all the gay bars in his country and have people locked up for being gay. Homosexuality has been legal in Kazakhstan since… Read more »
Singapore High Court upholds anti-gay law in Tan Eng Hong’s case
Singapore High court Justice Quentin Loh today upheld the law which criminalises sex between men. Singapore High Court Justice Quentin Loh today released a judgement in the Constitutional challenge of statute 377A of the Singapore Penal Code, upholding the law which criminalises sex between men and provides a jail term of up to two years.… Read more »
Bangladesh jails ‘married’ lesbian couple
Love blossomed in a Bangladeshi factory but their happiness ended with arrest, medical gender tests and prison A lesbian couple from the Jhalakati District of Bangladesh have are in jail because of their relationship. Lucky and Mishti met and fell in love in a factory in the capital, Dhaka. They ‘married’ and have been living… Read more »
Bangladeshi Muslims to protest over Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus’ gay rights support
Bangladeshi Muslim groups have threatened to hold nationwide protests today against Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus over his opposition to Uganda’s persecution of homosexuals in what appears to be the latest effort to smear the Nobel Prize winner Islamic groups in Bangladesh have called for nationwide protests today against Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus over his… Read more »
Queer Pakistani Website Banned By Authorities In Pakistan
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) banned an online initiative for LGBT community in Pakistan by the name of QueerPk. The website, launched in July 2013, aimed to extend online support for the LGBT community, and has been in the media since then. “No one can squeeze space for us. We are ready for a long cyber… Read more »
Bangladesh retains anti-gay sex law against United Nations recommendations
Bangladesh rejects United Nations recommendation to decriminalise its anti-gay sex law at the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva last Friday. LGBT rights activists in Bangladesh have expressed dismay at the government’s decision to retain its British colonial-era law that criminalises sex between same-sex couples. Section 377 of the Bangladesh Penal… Read more »
Anger as Bangladesh refuses to decriminalise homosexuality
Gay rights activists have criticised the Bangladeshi government after it rejected recommendations to remove a clause in its penal code which criminalises gay relationships. The reaction followed a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva on Friday, where Bangladesh accepted 164 of a total 196 recommendations made by… Read more »
The life of gay people in Muslim Malaysia
While life as a gay young person growing up during the 1980s certainly was rough, I know that many people had it much worse. And many still do. As I contemplated living in Malaysia, I had to ask the question What would life be like for me as a gay man in Malaysia? While the… Read more »
U.N. report highlights ‘unspeakable atrocities’ in North Korea
Hong Kong (CNN) – A mother forced to drown her own baby and a prison camp inmate compelled to eat rodents and lizards just to survive – these are some of the horrific experiences documented by a United Nations inquiry into human rights violations in North Korea. According to the man who headed up the… Read more »
Azerbaijan: Gay man found dead in Baku in wake of first gay pride rally
A 53-year-old gay man has been found dead in Azerbaijan’s capital city of Baku, according to reports. The body of the man, who has been named by police as M Namiyev, was found last night on the side of Sumgayit Highway, in the Baku suburb of Bilacari. Police information indicates that Mr Namiyev, who was… Read more »
Human Rights Watch calls for end to Malaysia’s sodomy law
Global human rights group Human Rights Watch have called on Malaysia to repeal its colonial era law banning gay sex as the government continues to use it to harass Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim Global human rights group Human Rights Watch have called on the Malaysian Government to cease its legal harassment of Opposition leader Anwar… Read more »
Bhutan’s underground gay community seeks acceptance
He admits his view had been coloured by a Wikipedia search that threw up Bhutan’s Penal clauses criminalising homosexuality, and not because of anyone else’s experiences. Clauses 213 and 214 in the Penal Code of Bhutan criminalise homosexual relationship. It states that a defendant shall be guilty of the offence of unnatural sex, if the… Read more »
Bhutan’s underground gay community seeks acceptance
Homosexuality is a taboo subject in Bhutan, but BBS presenter Namgay Zam says it’s no longer a black and white issue, and perhaps Bhutan should look with an open mind at the rainbow. The affirmation of the existence of a Bhutanese gay population only happened with the creation of the Facebook page and Twitter handle… Read more »
Bhutan lawmaker says law criminalizing gays may go
Bhutan MP Sangay Khandu says the country will have to revisit its laws criminalizing gay sex as attitudes change towards LGBTs Gasa Dzongkhag MP and Secretary of Bhutan’s National Land Commission Sangay Khandu has said that laws criminalizing homosexuality in the Himalayan nation will need to be reviewed as attitudes change towards LGBT people. ‘The… Read more »
Himalayas offer asylum for persecuted LGBTs
Nepal’s pioneering gay rights group opens Pink Himalayan Center in Kathmandu to shelter victims and people with HIV/AIDS ‘This center is open to everyone, to all persecuted LGBTs,’ says a proud Sunil Pant, announcing the formal inauguration of the Pink Himalayan Center in Nepalese capital Kathmandu, the first sanctuary in South Asia for persecuted members… Read more »
Azerbaijan: First ever gay pride ‘mini rally’ held in country capital with no arrests or harassment
In what is believed to be the first ever pride celebration in Azerbaijan, a group of gay marchers recently paraded a “mini rally” through the capital city Baku, with no arrests, reports of harassment, or violence at the demonstration. Oxu news reports that the event, organised by gay rights activists Ruslan Baluxin, took place “in… Read more »
Azerbaijan: First ever gay pride ‘mini rally’ held in country capital with no arrests or harassment
In what is believed to be the first ever pride celebration in Azerbaijan, a group of gay marchers recently paraded a “mini rally” through the capital city Baku, with no arrests, reports of harassment, or violence at the demonstration. Oxu news reports that the event, organised by gay rights activists Ruslan Baluxin, took place “in… Read more »
New LGBT Center for Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal – The new community centre built for the LGBTI community of Nepal and South, called the Pink Himalayan Centre, was inaugurated today in a grand function. The Centre located at Dhumabarahi is a whitewashed five-story structure. Blue Diamond Society, Nepal’s leading LGBTI rights organization will be relocating its offices from Lazimpat – where… Read more »
Japan: Government district in Osaka becomes first to support LGBT human rights
A local government ward in the city of Osaka has become the first Japanese district to officially support LGBT human rights. Yodogawa ward, one of 24 wards in Osaka, passed a resolution recently after a consultation with residents on LGBT issues, including Hiroko and Koyuki Higashi, who were the first gay couple to get married… Read more »
The two faces of Thai tolerance
Thailand’s Bangkok Post last week highlighted that while the country’s tourism authorities are trying to market Thailand as a gay-friendly destination urging gay visitors to “Go Thai. Be free”, local LGBT activists say the campaign disguises a darker reality that beneath the veneer of public tolerance, conservatism and discrimination remain rife. In an investigative report… Read more »
Osaka district becomes first Japanese government area to support LGBT inclusion
Yodogawa ward in the city of Osaka has become the first government area to officially support the inclusion of LGBTs, passing a groundbreaking resolution A local government area in the city of Osaka has become the first Japanese district to officially support the inclusion of LGBT people in society. Yodogawa ward, one of 24 wards… Read more »
Sultanate of Oman takes newspaper to court over gay story
Gulf state Oman will take court action against a newspaper that published a positive story about LGBT people despite the newspaper printing a front page apology about the story Printing a front page apology for publishing a positive story about the lives of LGBTs in the Sultanate of Oman has not been enough to save… Read more »
Gay South Korean film director marries his partner in public
Seoul(Reuters) – Gay South Korean film director Kim Jho Gwang-soo symbolically married his long-term partner on Saturday, with the couple exchanging vows on a bridge, though same-sex marriage remains illegal in the conservative Asian country. Dressed in white, Kim and his partner of nine years, Kim Seung-hwan, staged an ceremony on a stage overlooking a… Read more »
India’s 1st survey on gay love and sex busts myth
Over 25% say they don’t have anal sex, debunking perception that the act defines gay sex India’s first survey on gay men’s love and sex lives is out. And though the organization which conceived of it is the first to admit that it may lack the rigor of a scientific survey, the Gay Men’s Love… Read more »
Sri Lanka begins ‘systematic targeting’ of gays
Buddhist monk arrested for alleged gay pedophilia, transgender schoolboy entrapped in smear campaign After state-supported homophobic campaigns in Russia, Zimbabwe and several other African countries, the Buddhist island state of Sri Lanka has also begun a systematic crackdown on its gay community, rights activists say. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government, which controls the army, law enforcement… Read more »
India’s 1st survey on gay love and sex busts myth
Over 25% say they don’t have anal sex, debunking perception that the act defines gay sex India’s first survey on gay men’s love and sex lives is out. And though the organization which conceived of it is the first to admit that it may lack the rigor of a scientific survey, the Gay Men’s Love… Read more »
Sri Lanka begins ‘systematic targeting’ of gays
Buddhist monk arrested for alleged gay pedophilia, transgender schoolboy entrapped in smear campaign After state-supported homophobic campaigns in Russia, Zimbabwe and several other African countries, the Buddhist island state of Sri Lanka has also begun a systematic crackdown on its gay community, rights activists say. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government, which controls the army, law enforcement… Read more »
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