Asia
Indian queers soon to have their own Radio channel
India is all set to welcome its first radio channel dedicated to the LGBT community. Radiowalla.in, India’s first Direct to Consumer multi-channel internet radio platform announced that it will play host to a radio channel especially for the Gay and Lesbian Community in India. The channel will be available from 11th September 24×7 via any… Read more »
Young Indonesian lesbians struggle with the pressure to marry
Many lesbians in Indonesia feel the pressure to marry, and like many others in less accepting societies around the world, many consider marrying a gay man, but is it a way to solve their marriage problems? Kate Walton, who works for a national women’s organisation in Jakarta, explores the issue. In Indonesia, where same-sex marriage… Read more »
New ideas are required to control HIV spread
Taiwan has recently been hit by rabies, but due to a lack of funding, the government has not been able to purchase an adequate amount of vaccine. Cuts to HIV/AIDS medication funding have been suggested as one solution to the lack of money available for rabies vaccines because the proportion of funds for national disease… Read more »
How Thailand and Vietnam are moving on same-sex ‘marriage’
What exactly is happening in Thailand and Vietnam on law reform to recognize gay and lesbian relationships? Doug Sanders reports from Bangkok and Hanoi While the focus has been on gay marriage in the West, same-sex partnership rights have also been on the move in South East Asia. We examine progress in Thailand and Vietnam,… Read more »
On the road to legalising same-sex relationships: Thailand and Vietnam
What exactly is happening in Thailand and Vietnam on law reform to recognise same-sex relationships? Doug Sanders, back home in Thailand from two weeks in Hanoi, reports. Thailand In the fall of 2012, the issue of legal recognition for same-sex relationships was taken up by the Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice and Human Rights of… Read more »
Myanmar’s HIV/AIDS Program: Cautious Optimism
Overwhelming Problems Remain Efforts are under way in Myanmar to bolster access to life-prolonging drugs for people with HIV/AIDS, but tens of thousands will probably still be left out, say health experts. “All the ingredients are there to make this work, but a comprehensive and integrated plan concerning all actors and activities is needed to… Read more »
Nepal: Government excludes gay community from HIV meeting
Nepal’s interim government has been criticised for ignoring the country’s gay community and misusing funds after it sent only three officials to a HIV conference in Bangkok. The three-day regional meeting in Bangkok from 21 August was set to be include a host of experts on ‘men who have sex with men,’ (MSM) and transgender… Read more »
4th Kathmandu Gaijatra LGBT Pride Festival draws hundreds
The organizers of the 2013 Gaijatra Pride Festival in Nepal have declared the event a ‘grand success’ after around a thousand people took part Around a thousand LGBTs marched through the streets of Kathmandu on Thursday for the 4th annual Kathmandu Gaijatra Pride march to demand equality. This year’s event’s theme was ‘Our vote counts,… Read more »
VietPride 2013 to hit 12 cities countrywide in August
From Hai Phong to Can Tho, organisers of VietPride 2013 today announced a series of LGBT events that will take place in 12 cities across the country including in Ho Chi Minh City on Aug 24 and 25. The capital city of Hanoi saw some two hundred participants biking through its busy streets on August… Read more »
Gay Rights Roil Former Soviet Georgia
Tbilisi, Georgia — Gay rights have spread in the West, but a backlash is taking hold in the former Soviet Union. Russia’s new ban on gay propaganda is sparking Western calls for boycotts of Russian products and events. In Georgia, the Georgian Orthodox Church led thousands of the faithful to block a gay rights rally… Read more »
Kazakhstan plans Russia-style ‘gay propaganda’ laws
Politicians in the former Soviet state want to follow in Mother Russia’s footsteps in banning Gay Pride, LGBT-friendly clubs and ‘disgusting relations’ Kazakhstan could be following in the footsteps of Russia and planning ‘gay propaganda’ laws. According to local media, members of parliament (MPs) believe the former Soviet country needs a law to ban gay… Read more »
Armenian homophobia
Proposed anti-gay propaganda legislation raises human rights concerns in Armenia, where violence against sexual minorities is supported by representatives of the institutions Proposals to introduce legislation to ban the promotion of ‘non-traditional sexual relations’ in Armenia has concerned human rights activists in the small former Soviet republic. The bill, posted on the website of the… Read more »
Pakistan’s gays show cyber pride
The country’s almost invisible LGBT community has launched a pioneering website in a hostile internet environment. Karachi, Pakistan – Pakistan’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community has launched a website in a hostile cyberspace in which the government blocks thousands of sites for displaying “objectionable and offensive” material. “Queer Pakistan”, launched last month, aims… Read more »
VIDEOS: Vietnam’s Pride March 2013
Video posts Video Themed ‘Strive with Pride’, Vietnam held its second pride march in Hanoi which reflected the growing LGBT community in the country and its determination to push for more equality rights. The three-day event featured film screenings, the unveiling of scholarships, the launching of an employment equality guidebook, and a bicycle rally attended… Read more »
Same-sex marriage: The final destination?
At last count, 14 countries have legalised same-sex marriage. In Asia, the issue is gaining steam in Vietnam and Thailand as its governments are considering legalising same-sex marriage and civil unions respectively. Is this a cause all gay people should get behind? Malaysian gay activist and co-founder of Seksualiti Merdeka Pang Khee Teik writes that… Read more »
Gay rights march ahead in South-East Asia
Hanoi – This weekend hundreds of people will pedal through Hanoi on bicycles to mark the country’s second gay pride parade. The scale of events across the country, from dance performances, film screenings and a book launch, reflects wider acceptance of debate on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues over the last year in… Read more »
LGBTs get their ‘national anthem’ in Nepal
Third-gender activist’s music video on the sorrows of marginalization to hit the market ahead of traditional women’s festival After winning a Supreme Court judgment that allows same-sex marriage and asks the government to make laws to protect their rights, the burgeoning LGBT community in Nepal has another cause to celebrate – getting their own “national… Read more »
Bangladesh lesbian couple threatened with life in jail for getting married
Young couple ran away to the capital Dhaka to get married in secret, but it was not long before the police found and arrested them A Bangladesh lesbian couple is being threatened with life imprisonment for ‘marrying’ in secret. Shibronty Roy Puja, a 16-year-old Hindu, and Sanjida Akter, 21-year-old Muslim, were arrested in Dhaka on… Read more »
Persecuted gay immigrant allowed to stay in US
San Francisco — Federal judges have permitted a gay Filipino immigrant to stay in the U.S. despite deportation orders because he has suffered persecution for his sexual orientation in his native land. In a decision issued Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said 37-year-old Dennis Vitug was harassed and threatened… Read more »
Beijing LGBT Center celebrates 5th anniversary
Beijing’s LGBT Center has released a short documentary on its work to celebrate the organization’s 5th anniversary The Beijing LGBT Center has produced a 14 minute documentary about the organization’s work and trials and tribulations during its first 5 years to celebrate its 5th anniversary. In the video, ‘From Me to We – 5 Years… Read more »
First-ever Pink Dot Okinawa sees 800 participants
Pink Dot Okinawa, which is the first public LGBT-affirmative event in the prefecture, attracted 800 participants on Sunday, July 14. Inspired by the event of the same in Singapore, co-organiser of Pink Dot Okinawa Hideki Sunagawa was inspired to organise one as a way for Okinawans to show their solidarity for a more tolerant and… Read more »
HK youth magazine declares it’s all for gays
100 Most challenges gay haters in the not-so-socially-liberal international city A popular youth magazine in Hong Kong has thrown its full weight behind gays and lesbians. In an almost combative tone, the cover of its lastest issue reads in red fonts: ‘100 Most is backing gay lo fully, so what can you do!’ ‘Gay lo’… Read more »
Gays in Burma allege sexual abuse by police
12 gays and transgender individuals were detained for hours, stripped off and humiliated Gays and transgender individuals detained in a weekend crackdown by police officers in Burma’s second-biggest city have accused them of sexual abuse. From an area in Mandalay frequented by sexual minorities, law officers arrested 12 people last Saturday night, three of whom… Read more »
Sexuality and the State
Why India’s LGBTQI movement has a headstart over the West’s Mangesh Karande is 26, unmarried, and drives an autorickshaw in Mumbai. He prefers the late night shift because of the higher fares he can charge. He prefers the late night shift for another reason: Mangesh is intimately familiar with the ‘ladies’ who loiter around the… Read more »
Second Hanoi Viet Pride Festival to be held this August
Hanoi will host the second ever Viet Pride Festival for the second year in a row this August under the theme ‘Strive with Pride’ Vietnam will host its second LGBT pride festival in two years from 2-4 August. The organizers of the 2013 Viet Pride Festival in Hanoi are hopeful of building on the success… Read more »
LGBT visibility causing Indians to question straight friends’ relationships
India has always had a culture where heterosexuals have been very physical with their friends of the same-sex, but LGBT visibility is increasingly causing this affection to be questioned LGBT visibility is having an effect on the way Indians view close friendships among heterosexuals of the same-sex – with people now questioning those who are… Read more »
Maldives opposition party youth sport initiative attacked as cover for ‘sodomy’
The party of deposed Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed has been attacked by the rival National Unity Party over a youth sports policy which it says will promote homosexuality and sodomy The Maldivian Democratic Party has been attacked over a youth sports and entertainment policy which a rival party says will promote homosexuality in the country.… Read more »
Thai university introduces two LGBT courses, a first in the ASEAN region
One of the top three universities in Thailand has introduced two LGBT courses, a breakthrough in the country and the region. Doug Sanders reports from Bangkok. On Saturday, July 6, around ten students met for the first time in the credit course “Voice of LGBT” in the graduate program in Women’s Studies at Thammasat University… Read more »
Myanmar: Gay Men and Transgender Women
Wrongfully Arrested, Violently Abused – IGLHRC and Myanmar LGBT Rights Network Call for Justice Dear Friend, On July 7, 20 plain-clothed police officers forcefully arrested 10 gay men and transgender women outside the Sedona Hotel in Mandalay, Myanmar. Nine were dragged, kicked and handcuffed while being taken to the Division Police Station for questioning—one person… Read more »
Fifty shades of pink
Some countries consider gay marriage, but elsewhere attitudes harden On the last Saturday in June the centre of Singapore’s very sober business district turned distinctly pink. Lesbians, gay men and others converged there for the annual celebration of what organisers call the “Freedom to Love”, also known as the “Pink Dot”, in honour of the… Read more »
China’s Beijing Queer Film Festival concludes without government interference for the first time, say organisers
In a statement issued on June 27, the Beijing Queer Film Festival Organization Committee said: 23 June 2013. A small courtyard café near Andingmen, Beijing, is packed to the brim with a colourful bunch of people who have all come to witness the closing ceremony of the sixth Beijing Queer Film Festival. In its 13-year-long… Read more »
China’s Beijing Queer Film Festival concludes without government interference for the first time, say organisers
The festival marked the close of the 5-day, 28-film run last month at a small crowded cafe near Andingmen, Beijing with more cheer as usual as organisers report that this year marks the first time in its 13-year history that none of their events were disrupted nor did they have to engage in a cat… Read more »
Kandahar LGBT Pride
View Pride Video Here Source – YouTube
Beijing screens queer films for Pride month
Film screenings in Beijing tonight, tomorrow and Sunday look at transgender issues, bisexuality, gay life and censorship in China Beijing’s Queer Comrades (LGBT filmmakers and website) is screening a series of movies in the next few days for Pride month. Tonight the Beijing American Center is hosting a screening of three films and a Q&A… Read more »
Baguio LGBT Pride Parade in Philippines goes ahead in a cyclone
Participants in the 7th annual Baguio City Pride Parade marched despite rain and cyclonic weather Marchers in the 2013 Baguio City Pride March Not even a cyclone put the dampers on participants in the annual Baguio City Pride Parade. Participants march despite rain being dumped on the city by a weather event termed Severe Tropical… Read more »
Record turnout for Singapore’s LGBT Pink Dot rally
With an estimated record turn out of 21,000, Singapore’s Pink Dot rally to support the acceptance of LGBTs has become the second largest gay-affirmative event in Asia in five years, behind the annual Taiwan Pride Parade in Taipei. It was a record turnout for Singapore’s Pink Dot rally on Saturday night as an estimated 21,000… Read more »
‘Gay scene’ manufactured, mythical in state?
The month of June is when in several places around the world rainbow flags are waved, celebrating the diversity of expressions and gender identities that exist on our planet. In the past week, there have been pride parades and functions across India in small or large measure. Saturday saw the pride march at Hooghly in… Read more »
HIV and Syphilis Infection Among Men Who Have Sex with Men — Bangkok, Thailand, 2005–2011
Although efforts to control the heterosexual human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in Thailand had shown success by the late 1990s (1), HIV continued to spread in other risk groups, including men who have sex with men (MSM). In 2003, the Thailand Ministry of Public Health–U.S. CDC Collaboration (TUC) started surveillance among MSM in Bangkok, finding… Read more »
In China, LGBT citizens seek acceptance
Beijing (CNN) — In a victory for same-sex marriage supporters, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in a 5-to-4 decision. The law had denied federal recognition to same-sex couples. On the other side of the world, in China, the fight for gay rights is making progress. It is… Read more »
Wealth management firm estimates LGBTs have $800 billion spending power in Asia
A new wealth management firm targeted at LGBT investors believes that LGBT consumers in Asia have $800 billion a year in spending power and are 200 million strong A new wealth management firm targeted at LGBT investors in Asia estimates that LGBT consumers across the region have a combined annual spending power of nearly a… Read more »
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