Tag: gay burma

Myanmar Holds First Public Gay Wedding

A gay couple together 10 years tied the knot Sunday in conservative Myanmar. Tin Ko Ko and Myo Min Htet exchanged rings in a Yangon hotel in front of hundreds of friends and family. While their ceremony is a sign of growing acceptance of gay rights in the Southeast Asian nation, their wedding was merely… 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 »

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 »

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 »

Study reveals discrimination against LGBT people in Burma

Police use law that criminalizes gay sex to abuse and blackmail LGBT people Research from human rights activists in Burma has revealed the extent of discrimination against LGBT people in the Southeast Asian country. Human Rights Education Institute Burma (HREIB) carried out focus groups and individual interviews with 24 LGBT people from five different cities.… Read more »

Changing attitudes towards men who have sex with men and transgender people in Myanmar

When Thet Mon Phyo underwent a gender change operation in 2005, her parents told her not to bother returning home. “They were ashamed and I had to go and live with my aunt,” 34-year-old Phyo recalled. “When I was young my father often scolded me for my feminine behaviour. Later, my lover left me because… Read more »

Parallel Battles for Burma and Asean’s Human Rights Commission

The Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) will meet in Rangoon starting this Sunday to finalize the draft of the long-awaited Asean Human Rights Declaration (AHRD). Held in a country that has for the past year made headlines in the international media for its reforms, this event might be seen by some as evidence… Read more »

In Myanmar, Stigma and Neglect Add to HIV Misery

Yangon (Reuters) – The mother and child who touch hands in an overcrowded Yangon hospice are not family, but their tragic history begins in the blood. Jam, 42, a mother of six, and Kanama, aged 2, are both HIV positive. Abandoned by their families, they must now find comfort in each other, although Jam still… Read more »

Myanmar holds first gay pride celebrations

Yangon (AFP)- Myanmar held its first gay pride celebrations Thursday, organisers said, in a sign of liberalising social attitudes paralleling political reforms in the formerly army-ruled nation. Around 400 people packed into the ballroom of a Yangon hotel late Thursday for an evening of performances, speeches and music to mark the International Day against Homophobia… Read more »

A pride with no parade for Burma’s first gay festival

Hundreds of people in Burma have attended the country’s first public gay pride event. The festival reflects a new climate of political reform that has led to the election of a civilian government, ending 50 years of military rule. Gay relationships are still a crime in Burma, but the law is not strictly enforced. However… Read more »

Burma prepares for first ever public LGBT rights celebration

‘Our message is just to end homophobia – this is not a political issue’ says IDAHO Burma organiser Rangoon and Mandalay, the two largest cities in Burma, will host public LGBT rights events for the first time on Thursday. ‘This year there have been some changes in Burma,’ one of the organisers of the events,… Read more »

Gay people in Burma start to challenge culture of repression

Clubs, magazines and even an LGBT-oriented TV show are building momentum against institutionalised prejudice The nightclub is heaving, sweaty and loud, pulsating with blinding blue and white lights, and packed with drunken dancers. At the bar, the young sons of Burma’s elite are buying bottles of Jack Daniel’s and Johnnie Walker with thick wads of… Read more »

Burmese rights group to broadcast LBGT news online

A Chiang Mai-based LGBT rights group that serves the Burmese LGBT community and began Rainbow TV programs in late 2011 says it will continue to broadcast television programs on a monthly basis. The following was first published by the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma on Feb 19, 2012: In 2012, the Colours Rainbow group… Read more »