Social media, K-pop and gay characters on Netflix – all have played a part brgg LGBT issu to the mastream. But greater visibily has brought a backlash too.
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- TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS SOUTHEAST ASIA
- 10 GREAT GAY FILMS OM EAST AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA
- SPLENDORS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA GAY CULTURAL TOUR
- "ASIAN" MEN ON THE SCENE: CHALLENG TO "GAY MUNI"
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The imag were of him, his iends and hors of other people enjoyg the 2011 edn of Sgapore’s Pk Dot rally, a celebratn of the cy state’s LGBT (lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr) s ceptn 2009 the rally has drawn thoands of supporters and sponsorship om tech giants Google and Facebook, spe gay sex beg technilly illegal the untry. Unr Sgapore law (albe one the ernment has said will not enforce), gay sex between men is punishable wh a jail term of up to two are ‘Asian valu’ and is the ncept still relevant today? That ma headl Sgapore and Simon “pretty much had to then e out to the rt of the untry”, he is one of three men who ll themselv the SG Boys and n a podst on gay issu, discsg everythg om lonels to what was like g out to their fai.
The shift, they say, began about a ago but has accelerated the past five years or attribut his creasg willgns to talk about LGBT issu to a number of thgs: the crowds at Pk Dot showg him was okay to openly intify as a gay man; shows on Netflix portrayg LGBT characters as regular, normal people and an creasg number of straight people Sgapore showg Porowski wh Yoko Sakuma the Netflix miseri Queer Eye: We’re Japan! She said K-pop fans Indonia had mobilised onle to rpond to homophobic tweets, while some stars had publicly shown support for the LGBT muny recent years. Thailand is also a key producer of boys love dramas, a subgenre pictg erotic relatnships between male characters that is popular across Asia and portrays gay relatnships as normal.
And while Vietnam has crimalised gay marriage and allows same-sex upl to live together, homosexualy is a crime other untri.
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A man acced of havg gay sex is publicly ned by a member of the Sharia police Banda Aceh, Indonia. In 2015, Zurlia’s group of activists were attacked when they held a rally on Internatnal Day agast Homophobia. The ments began wh rants about how homosexualy was “a s” acrdg to Islam, then snowballed to ath target Thai uple’s gay weddg photosThe Malaysian activists felt the greater visibily – pecially wh LGBT people beg open about their sexualy on social media – had led to more persecutn.
In 2018, a Mlim man his 30s was arrted the central Selangor state on spicn of attemptg gay sex, an accatn he ni.
Over 60 per cent of s 32 ln populatn are Malay what gay activists see as a triumph, the man lnched and won a urt challenge, argug that Selangor had no power to enforce an Islamic ban on “terurse agast the orr of nature”. Taiwan legalised same sex marriage 2019, while India stuck down a lonial law 2018 and crimalised gay sex. Last year the cy’s high urt led that same sex upl should have accs to public gay sex, India has assumed an ancient posnEven Sgapore, where the ernment has said is up to society to ci s acceptance of LGBT rights, attus have thawed slightly as younger Sgaporeans bee more open to the LGBT muny.
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And 42 per cent of those aged 18 to 25 2018 said there was nothg wrong gay marriage, up om 17. 1 per cent have been multiple attempts by gay men Sgapore to mount nstutnal challeng to the lonial era law that crimalis gay sex. Last year, Parliament amend the Matenance of Relig Harmony Act to make clear that both relig groups as well as non-relig on, like the LGBT muny, were protected unr the said the velopments Asia proved that homosexualy and s growg acceptance were not Wtern ncepts that went agast Asian valu.
And whether one is lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr, how the person prents himself, herself or even themselv, n affect their abily to be loud and proud. Indonia’s Zurlia said lbian women and gay men who nformed wh genr norms had “an easier life”. “But for those who are transgenr, or lbians who exprs mascule as well as gay men who wear their appearanc more feme, that is gog to be harr.
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She said relign also played a role, wh gay Mlim men facg prsure “to return to the right path, get married, change, really damag their self-love and really rtricts accs to health re servic and other thgs, ” she said.
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Photo: AFP“They start to empathise wh the character and start to have that unrstandg that, ‘Oh, that person happened to be gay I didn’t know that, that person is ol though. Reverend Crcenc Agbayani, a gay prit and activist, led a service volvg both Catholic and Prottant r. “If you’re gay, beg love is a joke to many…or worse, you are a secret, ” said Mr Rey, “You love me out loud whout disgrace.
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Fully 73% of Filipos thk that society should accept homosexualy; 70% of Vietname say they would be happy to have gay neighbours. In 2019 the Philippe Supreme Court rejected a petn to clare the ban on gay marriage unnstutnal, but acknowledged that same-sex upl serve some legal regnn.
But activists say they create feelgs of secury the gay muny and give officials an easy means to blackmail people.
Homosexualy is crimalized Sgapore, as is three other untri Southeast Rahman/Getty ImagSayoni has been documentg s of abe and discrimatn agast Sgapore's LGBT muny over the last few years. At the time of wrg, homosexualy remas crimalized Bnei, which abis by strict Sharia law, and untri like Sgapore, Malaysia and Myanmar ntue to adhere to an antiquated lonial-era law that bans same-sex terurse.