Asia
Thailand introduces landmark same-sex civil partnerships bill
Thailand’s government has introduced a bill to legalise same-sex civil partnerships. The landmark move would make Thailand only the second country in Asia – after Taiwan – to officially recognise same-sex couples. ? Last year, the highest court in Taiwan stated that restricting unions to heterosexual couples was unconstitutional, and ruled that same-sex marriage would… Read more »
A 33-year-old hotelier is taking the fight for gay rights to India’s supreme court
One of India’s top hoteliers has decided to take the fight for the decriminalisation of gay sex to India’s top court. Keshav Suri, executive director of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, filed a petition with the supreme court on April 23 challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that criminalises a consensual relationship… Read more »
Pakistan opens first transgender school
Founders hope vocational courses will enable marginalised community to find acceptance Pakistan’s first-ever school for transgender students has welcomed its first students this week. Around 40 adult students at the Gender Guardian School in Lahore are studying vocational courses in eight fields, including graphic design, cookery and fashion design. The pioneering institute aims to provide… Read more »
Gay men will no longer be whipped in public in Indonesia
Gay sex in Indonesia will not be publicly punished with lashings anymore – but men will still receive the punishment behind closed doors. Aceh, the only region of the secular country where Sharia law is in effect, will continue to conduct the barbaric practice, which saw two men caned 83 times last year for consensual… Read more »
Japan’s Fukuoka Begins Registering Same Sex Couples
Seventh municipality in Japan begins registering LGBT couples, continuing march to greater equality in the country. Southwest Japan’s Fukuoka Municipal Government on Monday began recognizing LGBT couples this week, becoming the seventh municipality in the country to offer such registrations after Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward began in 2015. Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima handed the first official… Read more »
Same-sex couples officially recognized in one of Japan’s big cities
Lots of couples flocked to have their relationships registered in just the first few days Same-sex couples can now register their relationship in Fukuoka, one of Japan’s biggest cities. Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima made the announcement about the good news in February. But now everything is up and running for the partnership oath system which… Read more »
Vietnam’s sex industry and the sticky subject of legalizing it
‘Sex workers should have the right to make a living, contribute to society, and enjoy welfare in terms of healthcare and education.’ Vietnamese officials have expressed their concerns about the complicated nature of recognizing prostitution as a job. Despite being illegal in Vietnam, prostitutes can still be found all over the country’s biggest cities, and… Read more »
4 People Facing 100 Lashes For Alleged Gay Sex In Indonesia
Banda Aceh, Indonesia – Rights activists called on Tuesday for Indonesia’s Aceh province to release four people detained on suspicion of having homosexual sex, amid concerns over the persecution of the LGBT community in the world’s third-largest democracy. Secular Indonesia is predominantly Muslim but ultra-conservative Aceh is the only province to follow sharia, or Islamic… Read more »
Indonesian man and transgender woman could be caned 100 times for ‘having gay sex’
An Indonesian man and a transgender woman have been arrested for ‘having gay sex’. The pair face being sentenced to receive up to 100 lashes if convicted. ? Local residents reportedly broke into a hair salon in Aceh – the only region of the Muslim-majority country where Sharia law is in effect and gay sex… Read more »
Trans violence widespread in Cambodia
Senrith Sereyroth remembers with horrifying clarity the day she was gang-raped. It was in 2005, 10 years after Sereyroth, a transgender woman, began working in the sex trade. Standing near Independence Monument, she was approached by two men with $10. They took her to an unknown location, where 10 men were waiting. “When they realised… Read more »
Paata Sabelashvili on Drugs & the LGBT Community
Exclusive Interview Politicians, journalists, and civil society observers covering the theme of drug use, in conjunction with the LGBT community in Georgia, are very familiar with the ‘White Noise Movement,’ which stems from anti-drug legislations which put drug users for small offenses behind bars for years. For consuming only a small amount of marijuana, Paata… Read more »
What’s It Like to Be LGBT in Cambodia?
Gay-friendly bars, drag shows, gay spas and saunas. Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Cambodia’s other urban centres have got the lot when it comes to catering for the LGBT scene. Visitors would be forgiven for thinking the country is accepting of the community. However, growing up gay in Cambodia can be a very different story.… Read more »
Pakistan’s first transgender news anchor Marvia Malik: ‘I struggled a lot to be accepted’
Marvia Malik is Pakistan’s first transgender news presenter. In a DW interview, Malik says she had to work hard to break taboos and finally be accepted by a society that discriminates against transgender people. DW: Congratulations on becoming Pakistan’s first transgender news presenter. How has the news been received in Pakistan? Marvia Malik: The response… Read more »
The ruins of Bangladesh’s LGBT community
What was once a fledgling lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka is now destroyed. In 2014 and 2015 the Bangladeshi gay scene was cautiously becoming more open. ‘Rainbow Rally’ pride parades were held and a gay magazine called Roopbaan was in print. But the LGBT community has since… Read more »
Indonesia is rounding up transgender women and sending them to rehab
Transgender women in Indonesia are being rounded up and forced to go to rehabilitation centres, according to reports. The Jakarta Social Agency prompted the wave of detentions by classifying trans women as people who have social dysfunctional traits, according to The Jakarta Post. ? Chaidir, head of rehabilitation affairs at the agency, said it regularly… Read more »
Pakistan’s transgender community takes another step forward
Despite help from Supreme Court decisions, members of sexual minority say, on the ground, progress often feels distant. Lahore, Pakistan – In her twenties, Jannat Ali dreamt of walking outside as a woman. Society, however, wanted her to live in one of two gender boxes. But she never fully identified with either. “I always felt… Read more »
Fear and horror among Indonesia’s LGBT community as gay sex ban looms
(CNN) – When Ael left home to go to school in Jakarta, his parents warned him to be careful in the big city. “Be a kind person,” his mother told him. He worked hard and found a good job as a teacher in the sprawling Indonesian capital, but seven years later the 23-year-old is fearful… Read more »
India Gets Another Chance Protecting Transgender Rights
Revised Legislation Would Secure Legal Recognition The Indian government will introduce a revised Transgender Persons Bill in the session of parliament beginning March 5. The legislation promises to enshrine the hard-fought battle for legal recognition and access to social services for India’s transgender community – rights long denied. An earlier draft of the bill, introduced… Read more »
HIV diagnoses have rocketed 3,147% over 10 years in the Philippines
Newly released figures from the Filippino health department have revealed that the number of HIV diagnoses has rocketed 3,147 percent over the past ten years in the country. In 2007, there were just 342 new cases recorded but in 2017 11,103 new cases were recorded. ? The figures took a 20 percent jump from 2016… Read more »
Indonesia is considering making extramarital and gay sex illegal, and the UN calls it ‘hateful’
Indonesia’s parliament is currently deliberating revisions to its criminal code, including proposals to outlaw sex outside marriage, same-sex relations, and co-habitation. The United Nations human rights chief on Wednesday criticized the proposal as “hateful.” Currently, Indonesian law does not regulate homosexuality, except in the ultra-conservative Islamic province of Aceh. Jakarta (Reuters) – The United Nations… Read more »
India’s only openly gay prince discusses coming out and turning his pink palace into a centre for at-risk LGBT+ people
‘People in the community tell me their mothers have threatened to kill themselves if they are gay. They do not want their mother to jump into a well so they are pressured to get married,’ says Prince Manvendra Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil might have grown up in a vast and opulent rococo palace in prosperous… Read more »
Male-to-Male Sex in Myanmar: A Curse Engendered by Poverty
Shadows in the night-time glow of Yangon’s magnificent, gold leaf-encrusted Sule Pagoda, several men stroll the Sule Bridge. One is Kyaw Zayar Swe, dressed in jeans with two shining studs in his right ear rather than the traditional longyi. He makes small talk with an old customer. A tourist next to the two, taking photos… Read more »
Indonesian Parliament to Propose Banning Gay Sex, Adultery
Indonesia’s Parliament is drafting proposed revisions to the national criminal code to prohibit all extramarital and same-gender relations, prompting outrage among activists decrying the attack on the LGBT community. Proposals are expected to be finalized in the next several weeks. The draft aims to ban extramarital sex, same-gender relations and cohabitation, all of which were… Read more »
Despite legal hurdles, Cambodia’s LGBT couples are adopting – and changing minds
When Heng Ny laughs, hundreds of lines run across his face. Sitting in front of his simple house with cats and chickens at his feet, discussing his relationship is what brings out a smile. He and his wife seem like an average couple, but one thing is different: Ny is transgender. Although they now live… Read more »
Queer Asia: a hot new docu-series exploring LGBTI life in the region
Taiwan’s first out gay singer will be one of the hosts of the show Asia’s first LGBT streaming service is going from strength to strength and has created original queer content. Queer Taiwan is the first LGBT original series produced by GagaOOLala which launched last year. The show is a docu-series taking a look at… Read more »
The Khmer LGBTIQ+ Experience
A Special Session Of The 7th ILGA Asia Conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Dec 4 – 8, 2017). Presented by APCOM in partnership with the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh Click here for the PDF with all the info on teh conference Source – APCOM.org
Pakistan’s Transgender Women, Long Marginalized, Mobilize For Rights
In a Muslim shrine in Lahore’s ancient quarter, men and women pray around the tomb of a local saint. They hurl garlands and flower petals toward the tomb, each from their own, gender-segregated side: men from the left, women from the right. On each side, transgender women lead the believers in song. Among the men,… Read more »
‘Boys For Sale’: The Dark World Of Japan’s Gay Prostitution
Although technically not illegal, gay prostitution remains cloaked in secrecy, and a new film reveals the ‘boys’ themselves often have no idea about the health risks they are taking It took the creators of the documentary Boys For Sale more than a year to fully win the confidence of the male prostitutes, owners of gay… Read more »
Transgender Women In Pakistan Demand Equal Rights
Heard on Morning Edition Gays and lesbians live secret lives in Pakistan. But to be a transgender woman there is a different experience. They’re mobilizing a movement for equal rights — and scoring victories. Rachel Martin, Host: To say living as a gay person in Pakistan is difficult is an understatement. Homosexuality is illegal there,… Read more »
This Amazing Commercial Uses Gay High School Drama To Sell Lip Balm
“Why don’t you take care of yourself?” Advertising has opened up to LGBT representation worldwide, but a lip balm commercial out of Thailand is taking it to the next level: In it, a teen confronts another boy, claiming he’s broken his sister’s heart. KA Lip Care But the boy is stunned when his rival leans… Read more »
An Analysis of the Situation of the LGBT movement in India
i. The LGBT movement in the United States was able to thrive because of the social conditions in that country. The heterosexuality of the Stonewall Riots accepted a moral and legal framework predicated on individual freedoms. The homophobia it rose against, and which the LGBT movement in the United States continues to combat, then, is… Read more »
No one is worth more or less than another. We are all equal as humans.
For as long as she can remember, Cheekii has always known that she is a girl. Back in her village in Chanthaburi Province in eastern Thailand, people discriminate against transgender women. People talked about her and questioned her identity. But Cheekii didn’t rise to their provocation. “My grandmother was my only supporter, ever since I… Read more »
Philippines’ Duterte, in about-face, says he supports same-sex unions
Manila (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday expressed his support for same-sex unions, after previously declaring his opposition to gay marriage, in an about-face that may displease bishops in the mainly Roman Catholic country. Speaking at a gathering of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in his hometown Davao City, Duterte vowed… Read more »
India’s first ever gay prince is opening an LGBT centre on palace grounds
A gay Indian prince is opening an LGBT centre on the grounds of his family palace, despite his family’s disapproval. The centre, which will be named Hanumanteshwar 1927, will be based on the grounds of Prince Manvendra’s palace in the Indian state of Gujarat. ? “It is important for the LGBT community to go to… Read more »
Indonesia sentences gay club workers to 2-3 years in prison
An Indonesian court has sentenced 10 men arrested in a raid at a gay club and sauna to between two and three years in prison, an activist and a relative of one of the men said. They were among more than 140 men detained after the raid in May on what police said was a… Read more »
Top Indonesia court rejects attempt to criminalize gay sex
Jakarta, Indonesia — Indonesia’s top court on Thursday ruled against petitioners seeking to make gay sex and sex outside marriage illegal in a victory for the country’s besieged LGBT minority. The 5-to-4 decision by the nine-judge panel of the Constitutional Court rejected the arguments of a conservative group, the Family Love Alliance, which believes Indonesia… Read more »
Indonesian Supreme Court blocks appeal to ban gay sex
The Indonesian Supreme Court has blocked a measure to ban gay sex in the country after a push from a religious group lodged a petition. The Family Love Alliance, which launched a petition to Jakarta court to ban extra-marital and gay sex last year, has been left stumped after its appeal to the Supreme Court… Read more »
Tashkent, Uzbekistan: Men of non-traditional orientation were detained.
Law enforcement officers detained two men from the area who were in sexual contact. They face up to 3 years of imprisonment. As the correspondent of UzNews.uz was informed in the department of internal affairs of the Yunusabad region, the men born in 1994 and 1988, met September 3 this year and began to live… Read more »
Thousands Celebrate Hong Kong Pride 2017
Thousands of revelers joined Hong Kong’s annual LGBT Pride parade and march on Saturday. According to the AFP, roughly 10,000 revelers joined this year’s event. Police estimated the crowd at 2,000. While gay sex has been legal in Hong Kong since 1991, the city does not recognize same-sex couples and the LGBT community has limited… Read more »
A Chinese queer couple’s wedding day, made possible by a cruise
Chen Zhichao and Yang Jieli knew it was love at first sight. But as a Chinese queer couple, it wasn’t easy for them to get married and recognized by the people around them. A special “LGBTQ” wedding cruise made it possible. Watch the video above to learn about the couple’s journey. The cruise was organized… Read more »
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