Contents:
- THE BTER TTH BEHD THAILAND'S GAY-IENDLY IMAGE
- HOMOSEXUALITY AND GAY LIFE IN THAILAND
- THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE GAY KGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND
THE BTER TTH BEHD THAILAND'S GAY-IENDLY IMAGE
Thailand wel lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) visors: s tourism thory targets the LGBT market, and Bangkok is often the only Asian cy clud on lists of gay-iendly tourist statns around the world. Among Thais between 15 and 24 years old, 56 per cent thk homosexualy is wrong, acrdg to recent rearch by Khon Thai Foundatn, a non-prof anisatn. By parison, more than 70 per cent of young people Japan, South Korea, the Philipp and wtern European untri thk that homosexualy should be accepted by society at large, acrdg to the Pew Rearch Centre, an Amerin thk-tank.
In a untry where nearly 95 per cent of people are Buddhists, many believe that gay or transgenr people suffer om bad karma for mtg adultery their past liv.
“I fd surprisg that Thailand, beg one of the most gay-iendly untri [for foreigners], do not have laws that support and protect the LGBT muny, ” says L’Estrange, an Irish-Amerin who has lived here for almost 10 years. The Anjaree Group, Thailand’s largt lbian and gay rights activist anisatn, has cricised the bill for not grantg homosexual upl the same rights as their heterosexual unterparts. “There are no openly gay people high-rankg offic who n fluence the change both law and attu, ” says Suppakorn Chudabala, a gay rights rearcher.
HOMOSEXUALITY AND GAY LIFE IN THAILAND
“The first step advotg for LGBT rights is to te people that beg homosexual or transsexual is not wrong, ” Suppakorn says. 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).
THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE GAY KGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND
“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.
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.