Fighting for Gay Rights Across South East Asia

I joined a new project team at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) at an exciting time. The SexualOrientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Project works to help the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Cambodia, particularly those living in rural areas who are misunderstood and mistreated. Part of our work is to collaborate with partners from other countries to share ideas and work together for change. 

So, my first few weeks on the project coincided with Cambodia hosting the ASEAN (Association of South East Nations) Conference.  This is a fledging regional body of the ten member states with three pillars: economic integration; political security and socio-cultural of the 10 member states. The conferences are also an opportunity for civil society organisations to meet and interface with heads of government. LGBT NGOs from across SE Asia attended a Civil Society Conference called the ASEAN People’s Forum in Phnom Penh.  

There were wider problems at the People’s Forum as authorities interfered to cancel or move workshops on ‘sensitive’ issues including land rights, indigenous people rights and Burma.  This disruption seemed to be counter-productive for the paranoid authorities as the resulting outcry from the workshop organisers received wide media coverage because they disrupted the press conference. 

CCHR and Rainbow Community Kampuchea (RoCK) – a local LGBT organisation – organised workshops and social events for the visiting friends from across the region.  It was a fantastic experience, having the opportunity to meet some inspiring activists, hear about their work and also have a laugh. We organised a dinner for the group where a lot of time was spent with everyone standing up and introducing themselves, what they do, who they are with and who they may be looking for in life. This made for a fun evening and discussions on the attractiveness of the Phnom Penh tuk tuk drivers!  I felt honoured being the only non- Asian in the group and shared something from my own life, lucky that I come from a country where I've been able to marry a man.

It’s forty years since the UK decriminalised homosexuality, unfortunately the UK transported its homophobic laws half way across the world which still remain in place in many ex-colonies. These archaic laws are used here in SE Asia by Brunei, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore to harass, extort money, arrest and persecute LGBT people.  Where there are no explicit anti-homosexual laws then other countries, including Cambodia, use other legislation to harass LGBT people. In the Philippines an anti-kidnapping law is used to break apart 
lesbian couples in loving relationships.

Currently the ASEAN countries are drafting the ASEAN Declaration of Human Rights, with a final plan to be adopted by November 2012 which provides an opportunity to introduce provision to counteract the harassment of LGBT people.  The ASEAN LGBT network are therefore lobbying for the provision of reference to the human rights regardless of ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity.’  It has been leaked that this reference has been ‘blocked’ by certain countries – namely Lao, Malaysia and Brunei.  So, the coming together of the regional LGBT groups at this time is crucial to lobby together.

STRAP Management Committee

13 organisations from 7 countries were able to attend the meetings – all countries in the region are connected apart from Lao. The stories shared were fascinating with a contrast between the most liberal country in the region for LGBT people, probably Thailand and the least liberal (although not without its problems), its neighbour Malaysia.  The ultra right wing, Islamic, Conservative government of Malaysia only this month introduced a ban on gay characters on state run TV.  

Interesting presentations at our meetings included the Seksualiti Merdeka – an annual Malaysian sexuality arts festival which was disrupted and banned by the police last year as the festival was deemed a “threat to national security.”  We also learned about workshops conducted in Vietnam for the families of LGBT people, football matches between lesbians and gays in Burma (the lesbians won), stories from Arus Pelangi Indonesia of the rise in homophobic thuggish behaviour, and a fabulous presentation from the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) who have the most glamorous management committee I’ve seen before.

The outcome of the meetings was a joint statement to lobby the ASEAN Declaration of Human Rights and also pushing for the repeal of laws that decriminalise SOGI and to promote the well being of LGBT people.  There was a real energy from the participants and I think the network will continue to grow and push for change in South East Asia…an exciting time for the region with a lot of change, and for LGBT rights real potential unlike the dire situation in the Middle East and Africa.