HOMOSEXUALITY AND GAY LIFE IN THAILAND | Facts and Details

Contents:

• HOMOSEXUALITY AND GAY LIFE IN THAILAND
• GAY BANGKOK
• THE BTER TTH BEHD THAILAND'S GAY-IENDLY IMAGE
• THAïLAN GAY · GUI PAYS
• GAY BAR ROI ET

HOMOSEXUALITY AND GAY LIFE IN THAILAND

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. Acrdg to “Encyclopedia of Sexualy: Thailand”: Although homosexual behavr Thailand is assumed to be que mon, ltle formal rearch has been done. 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).

“Same-genr sexual experience do not necsarily rry the assumptn of homosexualy or a homosexual inty Thailand (Strai, Brown, and Vilak 1991). 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.

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.

GAY BANGKOK

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. To the more superst Thais, homosexual acts, which are an aberratn om “how nature tends, ” are punishable by animistic powers.

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.

THE BTER TTH BEHD THAILAND'S GAY-IENDLY IMAGE

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.

Chompootaweep and lleagu (1991) found that 75 percent of both male and female adolcents reported negative attus toward homosexualy. 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. Cabezón further not that, as far as the lay are ncerned, homosexualy is rarely mentned as a transgrsn of the Third Precept Buddhist texts and oral mentari.

THAïLAN GAY · GUI PAYS

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. “Whereas the non is silent about homosexualy, the Jataka lerature, which the prevly mentned tale of Prce Vsantara is embedd, is replete wh sentiments about same-genr affectn.

GAY BAR ROI ET

It suggts that the attu toward homosexualy the Indian Jataka texts is one of acceptance, and ocsnally even a logy, of the feelgs. Taken together wh the analysis of the non and the Jataka tal, this story illtrat Buddhism's ntral posn on the issue of homosexualy.

For example, some Thai people have heard that a man who acknowledg his homosexualy will be nied Buddhist ordatn, although such stanc may have been very rare or never enforced. In a Buddhist unti like Thailand, many people have wonred whether gay marriage laws uld be applied the untry acrdance wh Theravada Buddhism.