'Happily ever after' elus Taiwan, a year after Asia's first gay marriag | Rters

Contents:

• GAYS THAILAND: IS A LGBT IENDLY UNTRY FOR TOURISM?
• 'HAPPILY EVER AFTER' ELUS TAIWAN, A YEAR AFTER ASIA'S FIRST GAY MARRIAG
• WHY GAY-IENDLY TAIWAN IS A CREATIVE HAVEN FOR LGBTQ ART
• GAY TAIWAN: ASIA’S BT STATN FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS
• BEG GAY TAIWAN

GAYS THAILAND: IS A LGBT IENDLY UNTRY FOR TOURISM?

Homosexualy is illegal Malaysia and punishable by 20 years is shunned - but not illegal - most of Mlim-majory is banned Indonia's nservative Aceh band said had ncelled s Indonia and Taiwan gigs "due to current circumstanc", whout is largely seen as welg to the LGBT muny. It was the first place Asia to legalise same-sex a statement shared by We The Ft, a mic ftival Indonia's pal Jakarta where The 1975 were schled to perform on Sunday, the band said current circumstanc ma "impossible to proceed wh the schled shows" of Malaysia's LGBT muny were trated by events on Friday and worried the spotlight on their muny uld lead to more stigma and legalis same-sex marriageStrict anti-gay laws beg Indonia's Aceh provceOn Friday, on stage Kuala Lumpur, lead sger Healy said: "I don't see the [expletive] pot, right, I do not see the pot of vg the 1975 to a untry and then tellg who we n have sex wh. "It giv them [nservative policians] more ammo to further their homophobic agenda to ga vot, " she about life Malaysia as part of the LGBT muny, Rose said "the ernment is not on our si" and she nnot pursue her profsn as a drag artist eely the untry - travellg to Sgapore for performanc said the LGBT muny's mental health had been badly affected by nstant scty and cricism om the ernment and society.

The cint attracted cricism the untry, where homosexualy is punishable by 10 years' imprisonment. "It giv them [nservative policians] more ammo to further their homophobic agenda to ga vot, " she about life Malaysia as part of the LGBT muny, Rose said "the ernment is not on our si" and she nnot pursue her profsn as a drag artist eely the untry - travellg to Sgapore for performanc stead.

'HAPPILY EVER AFTER' ELUS TAIWAN, A YEAR AFTER ASIA'S FIRST GAY MARRIAG

You’ll fd many gay bars at the square behd The Red Hoe, and the area of ShiDa night market is the go-to place for lbians. Neverthels, anti-gay vlence is rare Taiwan and LGBTQ+ lols feel fortable livg out and proud.

Obvly there is still room for improvement, but the attu towards homosexualy Thailand is que open. I have been to que a few untri, and no other have I seen homosexuals live their sexual orientatn so openly. The reason is that, although daily life Thailand lbians, gays and transgenr people live wh total normaly, Thai law is not as liberal as most of the society.

In Thailand, homosexual marriage do not exist for now -although the bate over s legalizatn has been on the table for some time-. The tolerance of Thai society means that gays, lbians and trans -men and women alike- have a relatively ee life to live and exprs themselv as they are.

WHY GAY-IENDLY TAIWAN IS A CREATIVE HAVEN FOR LGBTQ ART

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. Although the are nothg but sensatns or beliefs whout much foundatn, this n be extend to gay men, or to anyone who mov away om the heteronormative non. One time I told a taxi driver that I was gay, and he asked me if I drsed as a woman or if I wanted to be a woman.

GAY TAIWAN: ASIA’S BT STATN FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS

In fact, this type of discrimatn is rerced by the image that Thai media giv of gay men: ivolo, obssed wh any man who pass by, humoro and foul-mouthed.

The gay ncept is actually imported om the Wt and is que flexible, so sometim overlaps even wh that of kathoey. For example, a gay man Thailand may say that he is not a ‘man’, meang that he is not a heterosexual man. It don’t occur to me that a Wtern gay man would say the same thg, or accept that the term ‘male’ only appli to straight men.

Also, many gay people Thailand tend to intify themselv strongly wh an ‘active’ or ‘passive’ role, somethg that seems que old-fashned the Wt, but not Thailand. 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. Thai people do not talk to the fay about sex, so is mon that a homosexual man has never explaed at home that he is.

BEG GAY TAIWAN

Surely behavr, iends, or the lack of girliends at a certa age will make clear that the boy is gay, even if is never verbalized.

Instead, Songkran has bee an unofficial Pri, drawg thoands of gays om all across Asia durg the week of parti and splashy street water fights.

People wave rabow flags durg a mass weddg banquet for gay upl ont of the Printial Palace Taipei 2019.

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - When Taiwan beme the first place Asia to allow same-sex marriage last year, universy profsor Lois was among thoands of gay people who cheered and waved rabow flags on the streets of the pal Taipei. A year on, she and her Che partner still have no right to legally wed, like hundreds of such upl who face rtrictns over ternatnal same-sex Taiwan marked a year sce passg s historic law a regn where gay rights progrs is slow, LGBT+ rights groups have lled for a full regnn of same-sex marriage to protect upl and fai. MISSING PIECE OF PUZZLESame-sex marriage beme legal Taiwan on May 24 last year, a week after s parliament passed a bill offerg siar protectns of marriage to gay people uld only marry foreigners om a untry where same-sex marriage is also legal, and adopt children blogilly related to at least one of ’s partner, who is om Cha where gay marriage is not regnised, had to give up her job 2017 and bee a stunt so she uld stay on the island and raise their three-year-old son.

I want - my wife, my son - to be regnised as a fay, ” Lois told the Thomson Rters Foundatn by phone om seen as a bean of liberalism Asia, Taiwan beme the first place the regn to allow gay marriage, although the move faced stiff opposn and divid the self-led than 3, 500 gay upl have married sce last year, official figur show. “There are still a lot of measur that need to be adjted after the law was approved, ” she add, whout office did not reply to a requt seekg ment on lls to allow all ternatnal gay, SETBACKS IN ASIAElsewhere Asia, progrs towards gay marriage has been slow.

A urt the Philipp rejected a same-sex marriage petn last year and Hong Kong has upheld a ban on civil partnerships, although gay upl have ma small gas public hog and spoal visa rights. “We unrstand chang society take time, ” said Jennifer Lu, a reprentative for the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn said the law passed Taiwan was a breakthrough as shows gay marriage do not ntradicts “Asian valu”.

The bate over same-sex marriage has been gog on sce 2003 when the executive branch of the ernment started to prepare legislatn to allow gay marriage.

Meanwhile, the movement support of gay marriage was growg Taiwan wh publicy events like the biggt same-sex weddg party ever 2011. The panel of judg gave the ernment 2 years to legalize same-sex marriage, which would make the first untry Asia to legalise gay marriage.

The good news is, acrdg to a 2016 study, tolerance towards homosexualy Taiwan creased 132% between 1995 and 2012 and Taiwan’s reputatn as the most gay-iendly untry Asia is certaly more than jtified by this and s thrivg gay muny. However another study showed that Taiwane people were ls likely to be tolerant of gay members of their own fay wh 38. This shows that there are still some graed prejudic and a certa amount of misunrstandgs about the gay muny – sadly somethg reflected the 2018 referendum rult.