LGBTIQ+ Rights in Southeast Asia One Queer Fight for Southeast Asia amid a Pandemic of Fear and Oppression Opinion As the COVID-19 pandemic draws to a close, it will leave the vulnerable, especially countless LGBTQIA+ persons, desperate for deliverance and justice. In this regard, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) has become more significant than ever. It calls us to seek those who are scared and traumatized, and lift them from the rubbles. By Joel Mark Baysa-Barredo Phobia, Whose Phobia? Unpacking Present-Day Homophobia and Transphobia in Asia Essay On the occasion of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), the scholar-activist Dédé Oetomo from Indonesia explores the contrast between contemporary homophobia and transphobia and the more tolerant or accepting past and how this can give support to the LGBTIQ+ community. By Dédé Oetomo Better Mental Health for LGBTIQ+: Harnessing Awareness for Vulnerabilities in the Pandemic Article More than a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the virus continues to ravage the Asia-Pacific with catastrophic human, social, economic, and developmental costs. Many LGBTIQ+ persons experienced increased vulnerability on top of systemic human rights violations and social inequity many currently shoulder as the pandemic places more stress on health systems and social safety nets. By Jennifer Ho and Edmund Settle Queering Malay Identity Politics in the Malaysian Digital Space Article The internet we have today has become as real as any social spaces we occupy in-person. So much of our lives are integrated digitally now and opting out of the digital space is no longer a choice for us. Today, to be online is to exist and to be seen. By Serene Lim We need the better world, we hope we have the world fits for all gender.'Waaddao' Chumaporn Taengkliang Building Space for Lasting Change – LGBTI in Southeast Asia Report Visibility and acceptance of lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) in Southeast Asia have grown in recent years even though some countries continue to criminalise same-sex relations or individuals with different gender expressions. From Myanmar to Indonesia to Timor Leste, even the most difficult environments have given birth to stories of love, hope and humanity. In this report, APCOM sums up the conditions and recent progress for LGBTI in each country and highlights the strategies that have helped to advocate for change. By APCOM Foundation Malaysia’s Hysterical Obsession over One Transwoman and the Struggle for True Political Reform Only Sajat, a successful entrepreneur and social media influencer in Malaysia, has been targeted by the government and the public for years - mostly because of her gender identity. By Serene Lim Behind Political Homophobia: Global LGBT Rights and the Rise of Anti-LGBT in Indonesia The Indonesian case of homophobia (or even some other ASEAN countries) reveals that homosexuality issues are more complex and are more than just moral or immoral debates; they are about national reactions to the rapid transmission of global discourse, the dynamic of movements and counter-movements in democracy, and also the state’s multifaceted representation which place sexuality as a political issue of our contemporary time. By Hendri Yulius LGBT Rights Under Siege in Indonesia Dédé Oetomo stressed that the focus on the LGBT situation in Indonesia is because of the increased level of intolerance and homo- and transphobia in recent months. In spite of these worrisome trends, Dédé Oetomo see it as an opportunity that, because of the current crisis, the LGBT issue is now “on the table” and can be openly discussed in the public and policy spheres. He remains optimistic as he believes that Indonesian society is not per se homophobic and LGBT people have come a long way in terms of organizing. By Catharina Maria and Rosalia Sciortino Volleyball: A Safe Space for the LGBT Community to Play Article Where the Philippines sits on the gender equality and LGBT rights spectrum can be very confusing for many who are not familiar with the country’s culture. It can feel like being in a time machine that takes you from the 18th century to the 21st in a matter of hours. Sports like volleyball are an equalizing factor, serving as a safe space for the LGBT community. By Ana P. Santos It is not a pie in the sky that will just fall into your lap, you got to fight for it.Dr. Dédé Oetomo Rethinking the Mobility (and Immobility) of Queer Rights in Southeast Asia: A Provocation Article Seventy years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly, what we have witnessed is that its claim of universality has been consistently challenged. While all human beings are deemed born automatically free with equal rights, the very definition of human itself in practice is not always neutral. By Hendri Yulius Perspectives Asia #4: The Gender Issue Read more “The civil union bill misses the target” says Thailand’s first transgender MP Read more Thai Cabinet Approves Civil Partnership Bill Read more LGBTI people in Myanmar: second-class citizens Read more The LGBT community: Youngest stepchild? Read more Life as LBGT in the Southern Border Provinces and the Pain of Being Different Read more Changing Political Tides Read more Contributors Dédé Oetomo Founder and Trustee of GAYa NUSANTARA Foundation, Board of APCOM Foundation, and adjunct lecturer at Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya Jennifer Ho a feminist, human rights activist, and deputy director of APCASO Edmund Settle Executive Coach and Social Entrepreneur Hendri Yulius Researcher of Gender and Sexuality Studies Chumaporn Taengkliang LGBTIQ+ Rights Activist and member of TEA Group Srijula Yongstar Program Coordinator Democracy & Participation APCOM Foundation Prachatai English Serene Lim Researcher, feminist activist and Partner-Director at KRYSS Network, Malaysia Joel Mark Baysa-Barredo Executive Director of SHAPE-SEA Ana P. Santos Independent Journalist Rosalia Sciortino Founder/Executive Director of SEA Junction and Associate Professor at Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR) Mahidol University Ohnmar Nyunt (Alison) Program Coordinator of Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Myanmar Alice Muthoni Murage Former Intern at Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Myanmar The Isaan Record
One Queer Fight for Southeast Asia amid a Pandemic of Fear and Oppression Opinion As the COVID-19 pandemic draws to a close, it will leave the vulnerable, especially countless LGBTQIA+ persons, desperate for deliverance and justice. In this regard, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) has become more significant than ever. It calls us to seek those who are scared and traumatized, and lift them from the rubbles. By Joel Mark Baysa-Barredo
Phobia, Whose Phobia? Unpacking Present-Day Homophobia and Transphobia in Asia Essay On the occasion of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), the scholar-activist Dédé Oetomo from Indonesia explores the contrast between contemporary homophobia and transphobia and the more tolerant or accepting past and how this can give support to the LGBTIQ+ community. By Dédé Oetomo
Better Mental Health for LGBTIQ+: Harnessing Awareness for Vulnerabilities in the Pandemic Article More than a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the virus continues to ravage the Asia-Pacific with catastrophic human, social, economic, and developmental costs. Many LGBTIQ+ persons experienced increased vulnerability on top of systemic human rights violations and social inequity many currently shoulder as the pandemic places more stress on health systems and social safety nets. By Jennifer Ho and Edmund Settle
Queering Malay Identity Politics in the Malaysian Digital Space Article The internet we have today has become as real as any social spaces we occupy in-person. So much of our lives are integrated digitally now and opting out of the digital space is no longer a choice for us. Today, to be online is to exist and to be seen. By Serene Lim
Building Space for Lasting Change – LGBTI in Southeast Asia Report Visibility and acceptance of lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) in Southeast Asia have grown in recent years even though some countries continue to criminalise same-sex relations or individuals with different gender expressions. From Myanmar to Indonesia to Timor Leste, even the most difficult environments have given birth to stories of love, hope and humanity. In this report, APCOM sums up the conditions and recent progress for LGBTI in each country and highlights the strategies that have helped to advocate for change. By APCOM Foundation
Malaysia’s Hysterical Obsession over One Transwoman and the Struggle for True Political Reform Only Sajat, a successful entrepreneur and social media influencer in Malaysia, has been targeted by the government and the public for years - mostly because of her gender identity. By Serene Lim
Behind Political Homophobia: Global LGBT Rights and the Rise of Anti-LGBT in Indonesia The Indonesian case of homophobia (or even some other ASEAN countries) reveals that homosexuality issues are more complex and are more than just moral or immoral debates; they are about national reactions to the rapid transmission of global discourse, the dynamic of movements and counter-movements in democracy, and also the state’s multifaceted representation which place sexuality as a political issue of our contemporary time. By Hendri Yulius
LGBT Rights Under Siege in Indonesia Dédé Oetomo stressed that the focus on the LGBT situation in Indonesia is because of the increased level of intolerance and homo- and transphobia in recent months. In spite of these worrisome trends, Dédé Oetomo see it as an opportunity that, because of the current crisis, the LGBT issue is now “on the table” and can be openly discussed in the public and policy spheres. He remains optimistic as he believes that Indonesian society is not per se homophobic and LGBT people have come a long way in terms of organizing. By Catharina Maria and Rosalia Sciortino
Volleyball: A Safe Space for the LGBT Community to Play Article Where the Philippines sits on the gender equality and LGBT rights spectrum can be very confusing for many who are not familiar with the country’s culture. It can feel like being in a time machine that takes you from the 18th century to the 21st in a matter of hours. Sports like volleyball are an equalizing factor, serving as a safe space for the LGBT community. By Ana P. Santos
Rethinking the Mobility (and Immobility) of Queer Rights in Southeast Asia: A Provocation Article Seventy years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly, what we have witnessed is that its claim of universality has been consistently challenged. While all human beings are deemed born automatically free with equal rights, the very definition of human itself in practice is not always neutral. By Hendri Yulius
Dédé Oetomo Founder and Trustee of GAYa NUSANTARA Foundation, Board of APCOM Foundation, and adjunct lecturer at Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya
Rosalia Sciortino Founder/Executive Director of SEA Junction and Associate Professor at Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR) Mahidol University
