Two-Faced Thailand: The Ugly Si Of 'Asia’s Gay Capal' | HuffPost The WorldPost

Contents:

• 10 COUNTRI WH THE BIGGT GAY POPULATNS THE WORLD
• GAYS THAILAND: IS A LGBT IENDLY UNTRY FOR TOURISM?
• TWO-FACED THAILAND: THE UGLY SI OF 'ASIA’S GAY CAPAL'
• HOMOSEXUALITY AND GAY LIFE IN THAILAND

10 COUNTRI WH THE BIGGT GAY POPULATNS THE WORLD

It is timated that the younger generatns are more likely to be open about their sexualy, wh Generatn Z beg the most likely to be openly gay, bisexual, or asexual or pansexual. The younger generatns are more likely to intify as gay or report as In many untri, admtg one's LGBTQ+ orientatn n put one's employment, acceptance by society, eligibily for certa social assistance programs, and even personal safety at risk. Our list of 10 untri wh the Biggt Gay Populatn the World is likely to tch you by surprise as you’re gog to fd some of the most nservative untri this list as well.

For some this might e as a surprise as Cha is not known as a untry that supports or promot topics like gay, lbian or bisexual but sce is the biggt populatn on Earth also has the hight number of gay people. And surely that is why Bangkok attracts lns of gay tourists, immigrants and expats search of fun, a eer life or a relatnship that their untri of orig would be rejected, clanste or simply impossible. The realy may not be that simple, and realy many gay Thais are versatile, but self-intifitn wh an ‘active’ or ‘passive’ role will help them troduce themselv and relate to their gay iends a particular way.

Thailand has been marketg self recent years as a “pk” tourist statn, a untry iendly to queer travelers seekg everythg om gay go-go bars to bety pageants featurg trans women (known Thailand as “kathoey” or “ladyboys”. )And the strategy seems to be year, foreigners scend on Bangkok’s gay bars drov, and many flock to the untry’s clics to unrgo genr nfirmatn activists say this queer-iendly image is only sk ep.

GAYS THAILAND: IS A LGBT IENDLY UNTRY FOR TOURISM?

“There is a quote [that says] that Thai society unofficially accepts, but officially rejects, gay and lbian people, ” Anjana Suvarnananda, print of LGBT rights group Anjaree, told Phet News 2013. ”LGBT activists say, however, that the new law, though very posive, is but a small step forward for the are still no laws or polici place protectg LGBT people on the grounds of sexual orientatn Thailand, which crimalized homosexualy the 1950s. Speakg to the Bangkok Post, activist Naiyana Supapung relled a se of a gay child who tried to kill himself by drkg sectici after he was “huiated by a teacher who had orred him to stop speakg and actg like a girl.

One of the worst sex sndals ever Thailand took place 1819, durg the reign of Kg Rama II, when a high-rankg monk, a Somt, was found guilty of enjoyg homosexual activi wh some of his good-lookg male discipl. 1992), extremely low rat of male homosexual behavr were reported; the thors utned that, due to societal attus, the timat were probably too low and reflected the rearch participants' unrreportg of homoerotic and homosexual experienc (the prevalence of same-genr sexual behavr will be further reviewed below). A public statement of homosexual inty would vlate two important valu of Thai culture: harmony - not to nont disagreements or nflicts - and the great value placed upon prervatn of fay uns and prervg leage through marriage and procreatn.

TWO-FACED THAILAND: THE UGLY SI OF 'ASIA’S GAY CAPAL'

Allyn (1991) also ntends that the anti-homosexual attus the Thai society are primarily the discrimatn agast the feme kathoey, who, acrdg to stereotype, display overt and loud genr-atypil social manners. The “Encyclopedia of Sexualy: Thailand” reports: The attus toward homosexualy are que plex: On the one hand, the behavr is clearly stigmatized, and on the other, tolerated.

“Overall, most ntemporary Thais view heterosexualy as the norm; homosexualy is seen as a viance or an unnatural act, often rultg om one's bad karma or the lack of mer past liv. Contemporary Thais still exprs their disapproval of homosexualy by sayg, often blhely, that “lightng will strike” those who engage sex wh a person of the same genr.

This pathology mol of homosexualy most likely origated the Wtern psychiatric theori of sexualy which domated Wtern medice and psychology until the 1960s and 1970s. Many Thai physicians and psychologists still subscribe to the antiquated theori and rema imperv to new rearch fdgs or the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn's classifitn of homosexualy as a mental illns 1974.

HOMOSEXUALITY AND GAY LIFE IN THAILAND

To reveal one's homosexual orientatn to one's parents would, a sense, vlate the Third Precept of Buddhism, and this has ed many Thai gays and lbians to hi their homosexualy om their parents for fear of g them sorrow (Allyn 1991).

Th, a person's homosexual sex, per se, may be easier for his or her fay than other more visible featur, such as long-term same-genr relatnships (Jackson 1989) or g out as an openly gay or lbian person.

Dpe some ambivalence toward homosexualy many Buddhist cultur, Cabezón (1993) not Buddhism only nmns homosexualy more for beg an stance of sexualy rather than s same-genr sex. As for other sectns of the Buddhist non, John Garret Jon has nclud that there is an implic affirmatn om the silence regardg homosexualy, and the silence is certaly not due to the lack of material.