Asia
Landmark Trans Victory In Korea
in Korea, Republic Of, In South Korea five transgendered individuals won a landmark court case in Seoul to get officially gender recognized without the use of gender altering surgery. Korea Times reports that a court in Seoul has ruled that transgendered South Koreans can amend their gender on official documents without having to go through… Read more »
Gay South Korean film director to marry in bid to pry open closet
(Reuters) – A gay South Korean film director is set to symbolically marry his long-term partner, saying he aims to pry open the closet in this conservative Asian country where homosexuality is still taboo and gays have been subjected to hate crimes. Kim Jho Gwang-soo announced plans to marry his partner of nine years on… Read more »
Same-sex behaviour in ancient China differs from modern understanding: Richard Burger
Richard Burger, author of Behind the Red Door: Sex in China, explains in an interview that same-sex behaviour in ancient China differs from the modern understanding of homosexuality. China View reports: “The Chinese history of homosexuality has undergone a dramatic trajectory. In contemporary China, homosexuality wasn’t decriminalized until 1997. And in 2001, it was removed… Read more »
Gay man says life is easier in Pakistan than in the US
Gay man makes controversial statement in an interview with AFP, says he feels more comfortable in Pakistan than the US There are no gay bars, ‘LGBT rights’ is an unheard phrase and homosexuality is considered to be against the ruling religion – but one gay man has said he finds life easier in Pakistan than… Read more »
Lesbians legally married in Cambodia despite no law change
Some lesbian women who have lived together for over ten years in some provinces in Cambodia could be the first legally recognized gay couples in Asia A Cambodian LGBT rights activist said that some local authorities in the southeast Asian nation already recognize gay couples as married. ‘Some local authorities give marriage certificates to lesbian… Read more »
Interview: Lack Of Data On Gay Men Impedes HIV Fight In Central Asia
In recent years, the countries of Central Asia have experienced some of the fastest growing rates of HIV infection in the world. One of the key populations at risk is men who have sex with men (MSM).owever, an acute lack of data on the health of that population — due in large part to intense… Read more »
Dutch LGBT rights advocate says Japan is starting along path to gay marriage
Borris Dittrich, former Dutch MP and LGBT director for Human Rights Watch, said ‘the start is happening now’ The man who helped make the Netherlands the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage in 2001 has said ‘the start is happening now’ for the same in Japan. Borris Dittrich, former Dutch MP and… Read more »
South Korea: Court grants Ugandan lesbian refugee status after family killed due to her sexuality
A 27-year-old Ugandan woman has become the first person to be granted refugee status in South Korea due to their sexuality. The woman, who can not be named for legal reasons told a court that she feared for her life after her family members were killed by neighbours because she is a lesbian. The Korean… Read more »
China’s Gays and Lesbians Join the Global Debate on Same-Sex Marriage
In a country where homosexuality was illegal until just 16 years ago and classed as a mental illness until 2001, advocates for gay rights in China complain that attitudes toward their community are years behind those in Western countries. But like their counterparts everywhere, Chinese gays and lesbians are fired up by the growing global… Read more »
US union takes on Asian LGBT activists fight against Brunei
Workers’ union in California pickets Brunei-owned Beverly Hills Hotel to protest against anti-gay policies in southeast Asian nation of Brunei A union on the other side of the world has taken on the fight of LGBT activists in Asia who were excluded from a meeting in Brunei last week. US-based hospitality union Unite Here were… Read more »
Gay pride march kicks off first ‘Tokyo Rainbow Week’
Thousands of people joined a parade Sunday to kick off “Tokyo Rainbow Week,” a series of events aimed at supporting sexual minorities. Organizers said about 12,000 people took part in the inaugural parade, which has been held for several years around the Harajuku district as a gay pride event. The week of special events runs… Read more »
Vietnam gay sitcom becomes Internet smash
Hanoi — Vietnam’s first gay sitcom has become a YouTube sensation, racking up millions of views as support for legalising same-sex marriage strengthens within the communist government. Homosexuality was once seen as a social evil in Vietnam and the success of “My Best Gay Friends”, a low-budget series about three people sharing an apartment in… Read more »
Same-sex union bill no cause for celebration–Editorial
Lesbians, gays and others seek equal treatment under the law, not special favours and condescension Bangkok, Thailand – The recent move by the Parliamentary Commission on Law, Justice and Human Rights to legalise same-sex relationships came as a pleasant surprise to the local community of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and intersex persons (LGBTIs). Three leading… Read more »
Japan: Thousands march in Tokyo in support of LGBT rights
Thousands marched in Tokyo this weekend as Japan kicked off its first Rainbow Week, which aims to reach out to LGBT people in the country. Organisers of the parade estimated that 12,000 people took place in the parade on Sunday, the first in a week of events in a programme which runs until 6 May.… Read more »
Iceland PM’s visit inspires China lesbian couple to ‘marry’
Beijing: Busy shoppers in Guangzhou city of South China were surprised on Wednesday to see a lesbian couple seeking their blessings as they held their wedding. The couple said they were inspired by this week’s China visit of Iceland Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, a self-proclaimed lesbian who is engaged in a same-sex marriage. The girl… Read more »
Quick, strong support for appeal of Singapore anti-gay law
“We are seeing the light at the end of tunnel. … We are no longer walking alone, or in tens or hundreds, we are now walking in tens of thousands.” — Bryan Choong In this article, Singapore counseling center manager Bryan Choong welcomes people’s rapid, positive response to the fund-raising campaign supporting the appeal of… Read more »
Male-On-Male Intimate Partner Violence And Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Money Boys And Other MSM In Shanghai, China
Abstract Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is known to increase HIV risk among heterosexual women, but less is known about IPV and HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM), with almost no data from non-Western countries. This study examined the prevalence of IPV and links between IPV and HIV risks among MSM in… Read more »
Vietnam’s health ministry backs same-sex marriage
As lawmakers in Vietnam consider legalising same-sex marriage, the country’s health ministry has reportedly said that it believes same-sex marriage to be a human right and should be allowed by the state. Vietnam’s largest news newspaper Tuoi Tre reported in its English-version website today that the country’s health ministry has declared its support of same-sex… Read more »
I AM ME video project to address anti-LGBT bullying in Hong Kong schools
Pink Alliance, a coalition of Hong Kong’s LGBT groups, has launched the I am ME video advocacy project to generate public awareness about anti-LGBT bullying of school students because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Pink Alliance, a coalition of Hong Kong’s LGBT groups, have launched the I am ME video advocacy project to… Read more »
For Gay Chinese, Getting Married Means Getting Creative
An increasing number of gay men in the country are conforming to traditional social norms — by marrying lesbians. Every time Benjamin Zhang talks about marriage, he uses the following words in abundance: “job,” “duty,” “my parents,” “problem,” and “urgent”. “The most urgent matter for me now is to find a spouse. I’m not young… Read more »
Thai media features same-sex couples as parliament considers civil unions
As public hearings are underway before the bill will be proposed to parliament for debate, the English-language local media appears to be covering the issue positively with interviews with same-sex couples who speak about the discrimination they currently face and their hopes for the future. In February, Asia City’s BK Magazine profiled four couples in… Read more »
India’s Gay Community Fights for Acceptance, Equality
New Delhi — Indian activists are listening closely as the U.S. Supreme Court debates the issue of same sex marriage. Activists are assessing progress made on the issue of gay rights in India, nearly four years after a Indian key court ruling that decriminalized homosexual sex. As a gay man in India, life has not… Read more »
Trouble in paradise: The darker side of the Maldives
Public lashings. Religious extremists seizing power. A gay blogger with his throat slashed. Few of the million annual visitors to the Maldives will recognise the hellish side of these heavenly islands Hilath Rasheed, the first openly gay and secular blogger in the Maldives, was about to walk through his front door one afternoon last year… Read more »
The Untold Story
hey can be seen at the forefront of any gay- parade or gay movement. Where closeted gay men still fear to step out, they form a large chunk of these parades. Due to their colourful dresses and loud behavior, they often attract the eye of the media. ‘They’ being the transgender community. Transgender rights have… Read more »
Singapore High Court rejects repeal of gay sex ban for men
Singapore’s High Court has rejected a petition to repeal an archaic law criminalising sex between men. AFP reports the court, which is part of the Supreme Court, said it was up to parliament to repeal a provision in the penal code known as Section 377A – the legality of which has been questioned by a… Read more »
Iceland PM asked to meet with gay rights activists in Chinese visit
Iceland’s prime minister has been asked to meet with the parents of gay children during her visit to China. Johanna Sigurdardottir, the world’s first openly gay prime minister, is due in the country next week. The Xinhua news agency reports Sigurdardottir and her wife Jonina Leosdottir have been asked to meet with members of PFLAG… Read more »
Largest ever LGBTI conference in Asia elects new representatives and chooses Taiwan for next conference in 2015
Thailand – The 5th ILGA-Asia conference with the theme “The Phoenix Rising” held March 29-31st 2013 has seen the biggest attendance ever of LGBTI activists in a conference in the region. Over 250 delegates from some 25 countries attended the event, joined by a numerous and enthusiastic team of Thai volunteers who were on rotation… Read more »
Singapore’s High Court upholds anti-gay sex law
Strait Times in Singapore reports: The High Court has dismissed a legal claim by gay partners Gary Lim and Kenneth Chee that Section 377A of the Penal Code, which criminalises sex between two men, was discriminatory and unconstitutional. In his 92-page judgment, Justice Quentin Loh said that Singapore’s society in the midst of change, and… Read more »
Gay sex to blame for 1,700 new HIV infections among Chinese students, experts say
Senior health experts say that sex between men is the main cause HIV infections among Chinese college students rose by 25% last year Gay sex is to blame for most of 2,000 new HIV infections in China last year, according to health experts. Over 1,700 college students were infected with HIV in 2012, approximately 65%… Read more »
Gay sitcom becomes unlikely hit in Vietnam
A sitcom portraying the lives and loves of a group of young gays and lesbians has become an unlikely nationwide hit in conservative, communist-run Vietnam. The first episode of “My Best Gay Friends” has now attracted over one million views on YouTube. The show’s success has come as a surprise in Vietnam, where gay and… Read more »
Singapore Gay Magazine Finds a Safe Space
In a world filled with headlines about gay marriage, the launch of a magazine for gay men might not be expected to cause a stir. But in conservative Singapore, where criminal law still targets sex between men, Element magazine is so avant-garde that it plans to publish only in the digital world. “Government licenses were… Read more »
Getting accepted
Find out more about IIT Delhi’s new gender and sexuality group Indradhanu, the first gender and sexuality support group at IIT Delhi, is not interested in half-measures: “We want to hear ‘we love you’ rather than ‘we love you anyway’”, Kapil Rananaware, a third-year B-tech student and one of the group’s founders, told Time Out.… Read more »
Odd cinema
At the recently held Bangalore Queer Film Festival (BQFF), I pushed and shoved and battled with strangers for space to sit. The main auditorium was jam-packed. Never mind that the aisles were already full; people streamed in anyway, and when I went outside for a break, I discovered the café tables were full, too. Inside… Read more »
100 Years of Indian Cinema: Homosexuals and the third gender on celluloid…Bollywood
New Delhi: When sexual revolution swept through the West in the 1960s after the advent of the birth control pill, some of the effects of the change found slanted reflections in popular culture. But for the ripples to hit the Indian shores, where cinema was still bound by Victorian puritanism, it took another decade. In… Read more »
Building On The Past, Looking To The Future: APCOM Re-Launched
New leadership, new branding and a new website underscore renewed commitment to the regional MSM HIV cause Bangkok, Thailand: On the eve of its sixth birthday, the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual (APCOM) with new leadership and expanded constituencies is urging all coalition partners to renew efforts to ensure access to social, health and… Read more »
Taiwan gay rights activist takes up legal same-sex marriage battle
Chief Day-way, another gay rights activist, takes up court battle to get same-sex marriage recognized after Nelson Chen dropped case two months ago A gay rights activist attempted to register his marriage in Taipei yesterday, but was told that only a man and woman can legally marry in Taiwan. Chief Day-way made the attempt two… Read more »
Dating Violence Among Gay Men in China.
Abstract This is the first study on the prevalence of dating violence and threats of being forced to “come out of the closet” among Chinese gay men. Data on social demographic information and the experience of dating violence, including types of abuse, threats of “outing,” and the gender of abusers were collected from 418 gay… Read more »
Nepal gov hosts LGBTI rights seminar, but decides not to renew only gay rights group’s license
Nepal’s government is hosting a UN seminar on LGBTI human rights this week, but has decided not to renew license of the country’s only gay rights group Details have been released for a UN seminar on LGBTI human rights in Nepal this week, demonstrating the progressive attitude of the government. But at the same time… Read more »
Malaysia still curtailing LGBT people’s rights, says Human Rights Watch
Malaysia’s human rights record criticized again in report to the UN Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Malaysia of violating international standards against discrimination with their words and actions against LGBT people. HRW submitted a wide-ranging report to the UN on Malaysia’s human rights failures, which included curtailing freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression… Read more »
Chinese Parents Fight for Gay Children’s Marriage Rights
Parents of Gays and Lesbians in China Demand Their Children Be Allowed to Marry Of all the ways a son can be disrespectful to his parents, argued the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius, the worst is to have no offspring. Now, in a bold challenge to this centuries-old tradition, nearly 200 parents of gays and lesbians… Read more »
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