In Vietnam, an unlikely haven for gays - and a lucrative market | Rters

Contents:

• IN VIETNAM, AN UNLIKELY HAVEN FOR GAYS - AND A LUCRATIVE MARKET
• GAY VIETNAM

IN VIETNAM, AN UNLIKELY HAVEN FOR GAYS - AND A LUCRATIVE MARKET

Before "don't ask, don't tell" was officially repealed for gay, lbian, and bisexual ary personnel 2011, a photo of a male Mare drag uld have land him hot water. "Lbian, gay, and bisexual ary personnel had been servg our untry for s whout receivg equal protectn, while transgenr troops are still prohibed om servg openly.

"As a gay man, I n relate to what is still the opprsive stigma of homosexualy.

HANOI (Rters) - If had been bs a ago, Nguyen Anh Thuan’s rtrant would have been a target for late-night police raids to arrt lawbreakers and stamp out “social evils” Khanh Sh, a gay person, pos for a photo ont of lamps the lours of the gay rabow flag at Comga rtrant where he is workg Hanoi, Vietnam, Febary 5, 2016.

GAY VIETNAM

Prejudice is givg way to some liberalism, he says, a untry often labelled a human rights aber but now one of Asia’s most progrsive on gay, lbian and transgenr has spawned a niche market of an timated 1. “Our bs benefs a lot om the LGBT muny, ” said Thuan, who also advis bs on lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr issu, which are often abbreviated as LGBT. ”While transgenr, gay and lbian people are persecuted and even jailed many Asian untri, Vietnam has quietly bee a trailblazer, wh laws to crimalise gay marriage and -habatn and regnise sex chang on inty documents.

”Semars and rporate-sponsored “Viet Pri” ftivals get ee re, and state media discs once-taboo issu of sex and genr is unclear what prompted the relaxatn by the ernment, which has never openly spelt out s Jtice Mistry did not rpond to qutns om Rters, and vice health mister Nguyen Viet Tien, who was once quoted speakg support of gay marriage, told Rters his mistry was not rponsible for policy and cled to ment. Marketg firms are trackg nsumer trends among lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people, cludg private healthre provirs such as Safe Livg, which timat such clients ntributed about 30 percent of s 2015 Market Makers, which specialis velopment of what lls “the uniquely lucrative LGBT market”, aims to clu Vietnam s 2016 nsumer recently valued the Che market at $850 billn annually and the U.