Vietnam: A Year After Gay Marriage Law, Homophobia Remas | Time

Contents:

• VIETNAM SAYS HOMOSEXUALY ‘NOT A DISEASE’ W FOR GAY RIGHTS
• VIETNAM CLAR BEG LGBTQ+ IS ‘NOT AN ILLNS’ VICTORY FOR GAY RIGHTS
• WILL VIETNAM LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE?
• ON GAY RIGHTS, VIETNAM IS NOW MORE PROGRSIVE THAN AMERI
• CONFN, OPTIMISM REMA AS VIETNAM DECRIMALIZ GAY MARRIAGE
• VIETNAM: FLAWED ON HUMAN RIGHTS, BUT A LEAR GAY RIGHTS
• GAY WEDDGS PLANNED AS VIETNAM MARRIAGE LAW IS REPEALED
• WILL VIETNAM BEE FIRST ASIAN NATN TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE?

VIETNAM SAYS HOMOSEXUALY ‘NOT A DISEASE’ W FOR GAY RIGHTS

Ho Chi Mh Cy, Vietnam – Phong Vuong was preparg for the lnch of a mpaign advotg for the legalisatn of gay marriage when he heard that the ernment had cid that homosexualy was “not a disease”. The official announcement, sent to provcial and municipal health partments natnwi before beg released on the ernment’s onle rmatn portal on Augt 8, stat that Vietnam’s health mister had received rmatn that some healthre tablishments were claimg to offer “cur” for homosexualy. Based on this, and cg the World Health Organisatn’s (WHO) removal of homosexualy and beg transgenr om the Internatnal Classifitn of Diseas, go on to outle five primary guil for the health system.

Edutn should be strengthened so all medil provirs have rrect knowledge about “lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people, ” says, and that queer people mt be treated equally medil environments. Both hospals offer treatments based on the ia that there are “real gays” and “fake gays, ” the latter of which is nsired “curable”.

“In realy, there are many people who are real gays, but there are also many who are fake gays, ” Mai Huong’s webse stat. Over the phone, a Mai Huong receptnist told Al Jazeera patients need to be asked a seri of “psychologil qutns” to terme if they are a “real gay” or a “fake gay”.

VIETNAM CLAR BEG LGBTQ+ IS ‘NOT AN ILLNS’ VICTORY FOR GAY RIGHTS

A receptnist at s Hanoi clic told Al Jazeera over the phone that the Mistry of Health’s announcement only applied to “real gays”. Vietnam was hailed as a lear on gay rights Southeast Asia after the untry’s munist ernment abolished a ban on same-sex marriage last year. But discrimatn and bullyg still afflict lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) youth the untry acrdg to lol media.

The move set Vietnam apart om most other untri the regn, where gay-rights movements have eher stalled or are facg growg opposn. Acrdg to a recent report published by the Asia branch of the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, many people the Vietname LGBTQ+ muny feel like the ernment is takg advantage of LGBTQ+ rights Vietnam as pensatn for other vlatns of human rights.

Even though the law Vietnam has been more iendly towards LGBTQ+ people (or at least prciple) and the ernment has been pledgg to improve the ndns of the muny, LGBTQ+ people Vietnam still face tremendo discrimatn om society and prsure om their fai to nform to a “normal” heteronormative example, there is an issue of homosexual dividuals marryg people of different genr due to the prsure om eher society or their fay. [8] Homosexual dividuals also engage marriage arrangements wh other homosexual dividuals of a different genr to please their fai on both to the ernment’s efficiency draftg regulatns for transgenr people, unrgog hormone therapy or other related medil procr remas extremely difficult and dangero, not to mentn very stly. [11]The 2021 electns for the Natnal Assembly and the lol People’s Commtee Hanoi saw the appearance of Luong The Huy, the first openly gay ndidate nng for both offic.

WILL VIETNAM LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE?

Beg gay, bisexual or transgenr should not be nsired an illns and nnot be treated, the Vietnam ernment has announced “a huge paradigm shift” LGBTQ+ rights the Mistry of Health said medil profsnals should treat LGBTQ+ people wh rpect and ensure they are not discrimated an announcement sent to provcial and municipal health partments earlier this month, and posted on the ernment webse, the mistry said beg LGBTQ+ “is entirely not an illns” so “nnot be ‘cured’ nor need[s] to be ‘cured’ and nnot be nverted any way” said that medics should not “terfere nor force treatment” on LGBTQ+ patients. In November, the Leave wh Pri mpaign om the Instute for Studi of Society, Enomy, and Environment (iSEE) petned the World Health Organizatn Vietnam to affirm that beg gay is not a disease. “The myth that homosexualy is diagnosable has been allowed to permeate and perlate Vietname society.

Although Vietnam has been praised as an Asian lear LGBT rights sce 2015, a recent report om Human Right Watch raised the alarm about the ongog problems of prejudice, discrimatn, and stigma facg the muny ’s worth lookg back at what happened to lead to this LGBT muny Vietnam was largely unrground the past bee the state media had clared homosexualy a social evil. Several studi have nclud that anti-gay sentiments are not herent but tablished the early years. Sce then, however, Hungarian lawmakers and populist Prime Mister Viktor Orban have passed several anti-LGBTQ+ laws, cludg on that prohib same-sex upl om adoptg children and ban any ntent emed to promote beg gay or transgenr om beg distributed to people unr the age of eighteen.

Meanwhile, Chechnya, a semitonomo republic wh Rsia, dozens of men spected of beg gay have been taed, tortured, and even killed two separate official crackdowns sce 2017. Cuba, where homosexualy was once punished by ternment forced-labor mps, has changed markedly recent years.

ON GAY RIGHTS, VIETNAM IS NOW MORE PROGRSIVE THAN AMERI

Sgaporean Prime Mister Lee Hsien Loong vowed 2022 to crimalize gay sex but said this would not change the stat quo on marriage. In Bnei, gay sex is punishable by stong to ath, though followg ternatnal outcry, the ernment said won’t enforce the law.

In 2018, India lifted a lonial-era ban on gay sex, and 2020, Bhutan moved to crimalize . When Qatar hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup, s anti-LGBTQ+ laws were wily cricized; prohibs gay sex, and secury forc have asslted transgenr women and other LGBTQ+ people, acrdg to Human Rights Watch. In 2018, Lebane urts set a potential precent for the crimalizatn of gay sex, but the untry ntued to crack down on peaceful LGBTQ+ gathergs 2021 and banned them outright 2022.

CONFN, OPTIMISM REMA AS VIETNAM DECRIMALIZ GAY MARRIAGE

Pollg by Aobarometer between 2016 and 2018 found that 78 percent [PDF] of Ains across thirty-four untri were tolerant of homosexualy.

In Ghana, where same-sex relatns are an imprisonable offense, draft legislatn would make intifyg as gay or an LGBTQ+ ally a felony. However, there have been recent advanc: the Aobarometer poll found that majori three untri addn to South Ai—Cape Ver, Mri, and Namibia—are tolerant of homosexualy.

In recent years, diaCRITICS has seen the bat regardg gay marriage take center stage not only the Uned Stat but also Europe, as stat and natns have stggled over whether to extend civil rights and social cln to members of the LGBTQ muny. We are surprised to see that Viet Nam’s ernment is now nsirg whether to allow same-sex upl to marry or legally register and receive rights, posng Viet Nam to be the first untry Asia to do so, after twelve other untri around the world have legalized gay marriage sce 2001.

VIETNAM: FLAWED ON HUMAN RIGHTS, BUT A LEAR GAY RIGHTS

This would be a remarkable achievement not only for Viet Nam but also for gay rights advot and alli everywhere. It is followed by an terview between Andrew Lam and Nguyen Qui Duc on the potential legalizatn of gay marriage, reposted om New Ameri Media.

Nguyen utns that the nversatns about gay marriage might actually be “a diversn, a measure to block cricism on reprsn of bloggers, or on urban protters of ernment, party polici and rptn. Even longtime gay-rights activists are stunned by the Jtice Mistry’s proposal to clu same-sex upl s overhl of the untry’s marriage law.

No one knows what form will take or whether will survive long enough to be bated before the Natnal Assembly next year, but supporters say the fact that ’s even beg nsired is a victory a regn where simply beg gay n rult jail sentenc or whippgs wh a rattan ne. Up until jt a few years ago, homosexualy was labeled as a “social evil” alongsi dg addictn and prostutn. Vietnam’s state-n media, unable to wre about polilly sensive topics or openly cricize the one-party ernment, have embraced the chance to explore gay issu.

GAY WEDDGS PLANNED AS VIETNAM MARRIAGE LAW IS REPEALED

Vio of Vietnam’s first publicized gay weddg went viral onle 2010, and a few other ceremoni followed, pturg wispread public attentn.

In Thailand, many tourists see a vibrant gay, lbian and transgenr muny, but exists largely as part of the untry’s lucrative entertament dtry, separated om polics and nservative Thai society. In Sgapore, more than 15, 000 people—double last year’s turnout—recently held up pk lights a park at night to support acceptance of the muny a morn cy-state where gay sex remas illegal, even though the law is not enforced. Currently hot on movie screens Asia is "Hot Boy Noi Loan, " one of the first sympathetic films about the gay life Vietnam.

WILL VIETNAM BEE FIRST ASIAN NATN TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE?

Recent news that Vietnam might nsir legalizg same-sex marriage, a move that would make Vietnam the first Asian untry to do so, stirred up que a b of bate among the diaspora of Vietname people many untri, as well as the gay muny. Although the discsn of whether to legalize same-sex marriage won’t take place by the Natnal Assembly Congrs until Sprg 2013, gay weddgs have been happeng Vietnam’s pal and other ci.

New Ameri Media: The news that Vietnam might legalize gay marriage me om left field for many of the Wt and many who thk of Vietnam as a nservative, police state. Nguyen: People are generally tolerant, but several ocsns I’ve seen rather unsophistited attus toward homosexuals. In big ci, such as Hanoi, Saigon and Danang, there are gay clubs and f, but beyond that, there’s really ltle prence.