As the Thai government gears up to implement the marriage equality law next month, there is no sign of the green signal elsewhere. The most virulent public opposition to gay rights is in South Korea where “come to your senses” netizens are keen to link same sex activity to aids, monkeypox and any transmitted disease to hand. Some say the advance of evangelical Christianity there is the main reason for the taboo, although the civil penal code is silent on homosexuality.
Politicians in Muslim-dominated Malaysia and Indonesia argue that gay marriage is another attempt by western ideologues and their proxies to colonize Asia. Most unsurprisingly, a Malaysian government spokesman said that there are no known cases of registered gay marriages in the country, whilst a state legislature has suggested the building of “rehab” centers for gays.
Vietnam formally declassified gay practices as a disease in 2022, but they are neither illegal nor accepted by the state. In the same year, Singapore decriminalized homosexuality but amended the constitution to limit marriage to members of the opposite sex. Myanmar, in the throes of an insurgency, has only stated that “gender issues, unlike in the west, are not important here”. Laos authorities mostly ignore gays although a handful of bars have been warned not to display rainbow flags.
As regards Cambodia, former premier Hun Sen has said that there are 100,000 gays in the country and they do not suffer discrimination. They can marry if they wish, but there is no state certificate or civil law recognition. The Philippines has a strong campaigning lobby to extend gay rights beyond notional legality of sexual activity, but the legislature prefers to ignore sexual orientation in Asia’s only notional Roman Catholic country.
In spite of widespread indifference or hostility by ruling classes throughout the region, gay activists sense some progress. The Asian Pride Alliance pointed out that Thailand was an unexpected country to find liberalism. “It was the military-backed, rightist government here which first agreed the concept of same sex marriage as well as decriminalizing cannabis,” said the spokeswoman referring to the post-coup administration which lost power last year. “Never give up!” she concluded.
