Small victories can't stop the dangers for LGBTIQ people in Southeast Asia

The situation for LGBTIQ people in Southeast Asia has deteriorated, despite some small victories in the region.

Rising influential conservative social forces had led to the increasing criminalization and pathologization of LGBTIQ people in the region.

A first of its kind report looked at the human rights conditions for people in Southeast Asia. It found the community had achieved some ‘small steps sideways, big steps back’.

The ASEAN SOGIE Caucus released report called: The Rainbow in Context: An Overview of the Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer (LGBTIQ) Persons in Southeast Asia. 

It discusses both the gains and challenges faced by LGBTIQ human rights defenders and their allies. The report looks at their work which is done in a an increasingly fragile political environment.

‘We recognize some advances: new policies that address discrimination against LGBTIQ persons were adopted in Cambodia, Philippines, and Thailand, for example,’ said Ryan Silverio, regional coordinator, ASEAN SOGIE Caucus.

Advocates face the dilemma of working for human rights which can make them the target of governments with questionable human rights records.

LGBTIQ groups ‘have created a fertile ground to build LGBTIQ rights advocacy, yet it also led some governments to view them as a threat’, the report reads. Read more via Gay Star News