{"id":7929,"date":"2024-09-14T15:07:20","date_gmt":"2024-09-14T15:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/14\/same-sex-marriage-was-on-a-roll-in-asia-not-anymore\/"},"modified":"2024-09-14T15:07:20","modified_gmt":"2024-09-14T15:07:20","slug":"same-sex-marriage-was-on-a-roll-in-asia-not-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/14\/same-sex-marriage-was-on-a-roll-in-asia-not-anymore\/","title":{"rendered":"Same-sex marriage was on a roll in Asia. Not anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rainbow flags rippled in the wind as gay and lesbian couples walked hand in hand down a makeshift aisle in Bangkok\u2019s busy Siam shopping district. <\/p>\n

Thailand\u2019s Senate had just passed a marriage equality bill, and the local LGBTQ+ community was in the mood to celebrate. <\/p>\n

While the ceremonies were symbolic enactments of same-sex weddings, the real thing could be just around the corner. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow I can freely say that I am gay,\u201d said Pokpong, who can\u2019t wait to marry his partner Watit Benjamonkolchai. <\/p>\n

The law, passed in June, still requires the thumbs-up from the king, but that is expected soon, clearing the way for Thailand to become the first jurisdiction in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, and Asia\u2019s third after Taiwan in 2019 and Nepal last year. <\/p>\n

But the recent flurry of progress for marriage equality in Asia could stop there, with no other government in the region looking likely to follow suit anytime soon. <\/p>\n

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The winning formula<\/h2>\n

More than 30 jurisdictions worldwide now recognize same-sex marriage, according to the Pew Research Center. Since the first same-sex marriage law was passed in the Netherlands in 2001, progress has been made mostly in Europe, the Americas and Australasia. <\/p>\n

Just across Thailand\u2019s borders, homosexuality is illegal in Myanmar and Malaysia. Bans also exist in Sri Lanka, Brunei, Bangladesh and Indonesia\u2019s ultraconservative province of Aceh. Maximum penalties range from lengthy jail terms to caning, according to the Human Dignity Trust, a United Kingdom-based body that supports strategic litigation worldwide against laws prejudicing the LGBTQ+ community. <\/p>\n

\u201cDespite some historic wins in the region\u2026 the human rights of LGBTI people across Asia continue to be denied,\u201d said Nadia Rahman, policy advisor at Amnesty International\u2019s Global Gender, Racial Justice, Refugees and Migrants Rights Programme. She added that people from these communities face \u201ccriminalization, threats of arrest, discrimination, digital surveillance, harassment, online abuse, stigma and violence.\u201d <\/p>\n

While liberalization in Thailand, Nepal and Taiwan was propelled by those places\u2019 unique cultures and socio-political circumstances, scholars and activists said, most other Asian governments are held back by conservative social attitudes, influential religious groups and the lack of robust democratic systems. <\/p>\n

Campaigners and academics in Asia say Nepal has long had a liberal judiciary willing to side with the LGBTQ+ community, while its deeply embedded culture of third-gender \u201chijras\u201d laid the groundwork for liberal changes. In Thailand and Taiwan, many attribute progress to a combination of democratic development and a robust civil society. <\/p>\n

Assistant professor Kangwan Fongkaew, who researches LGBTQ+ issues at Burapha University, said despite political instability in recent decades, Thailand\u2019s political system was functional enough to channel popular demands into legislation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of people in Thailand want marriage equality,\u201d Kangwan said. \u201cAnd now it\u2019s time for Thailand to have that,\u201d he added, calling it \u201cthe victory of the people.\u201d <\/p>\n

Unlike in mainland China \u2013 where LGBTQ+ activism is taboo and can draw backlash from authorities \u2013 the movement has thrived in Taiwan. Campaigner Jennifer Lu, director of gay rights advocacy Outright International in Taiwan, noted the importance of the island\u2019s functional democratic system in the process of liberalization. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis kind of democratic practice really creates the foundation of this progressive vibe,\u201d Lu said. <\/p>\n

Acceptance of non-traditional gender identities has grown stronger since. In May, Taiwan\u2019s then President Tsai Ing-wen invited homegrown drag queen Nymphia Wind to perform at the Presidential Office to celebrate her win on hit TV talent show \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Activists and members of the LGBTQ+ community parade in Kathmandu, Nepal on June 10, 2023.<\/span> <\/div>
Sanjit Pariyar\/NurPhoto\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Members of the LGBTQ+ community celebrate after the Thai parliament passed the final senatorial vote on the same-sex marriage bill, in Bangkok on June 18, 2024.<\/span> <\/div>
Chanakarn Laosarakham\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Asia\u2019s next best bets<\/h2>\n

While other Asian jurisdictions have the potential to be the fourth to allow LGBTQ+ couples to marry, according to experts, they are not convinced changes will come anytime soon. <\/p>\n

India is also a democracy, and \u2013 like neighboring Nepal \u2013 has laws protecting transgender people, so is a legitimate contender. But campaigners there say authorities are lukewarm on the need for change. <\/p>\n

Activist Anish Gawande, who co-founded Pink List India, a group tracking politicians\u2019 stance on LGBTQ+ issues, said understanding for sexual minorities is growing in the world\u2019s most populous nation. He has recently been appointed the first openly gay national spokesman of a political party. But he said the government refuses to do more than it needs to please the international community. <\/p>\n

LGBTQ+ activists petitioned India\u2019s highest court for the right to marry, only to be told it should be decided by the government. <\/p>\n

The government, run by India\u2019s third term Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has set up a committee to look into the issue, but without any notable outcome, Gawande said, adding that with neither New Delhi nor the courts taking the lead on the issue there was \u201ca stalemate for LGBTQ+ rights in the country.\u201d <\/p>\n

Japan \u2013 the only G7 country that does not recognize same-sex relationships \u2013 has seen piecemeal victories for LGBTQ+ rights through multiple court cases and at the prefecture level. <\/p>\n

In early July, Hiroshima\u2019s high court approved a trans woman\u2019s request to alter her birth gender status without undergoing gender-affirming surgery. And some local governments, including Tokyo, have issued certificates to honor de facto same-sex relationships for administrative purposes, such as housing subsidies. <\/p>\n

But on the national level, Japan does not recognize same-sex marriage and local courts have returned conflicting verdicts on the issue. <\/p>\n

Polls suggest popular backing. Up to 68% of Japan\u2019s adults support same-sex marriage, the highest share in Asia, according to the Pew Research Center. But in a country where the government takes pride in traditional values, change can be slow. <\/p>\n

And in neighboring South Korea, traditionally conservative views on sexuality persist. <\/p>\n

Scuffles broke out last year in the city of Daegu as local officials led by the mayor clashed with police during a protest against an LGBTQ festival. Organizers of the flagship Seoul Queer Culture Festival also lost their venue last year to a Christian youth concert. <\/p>\n

There have been some progressive successes, however. The country\u2019s Supreme Court ruled last month that same-sex partners should be entitled to spousal benefits from national health insurance. <\/p>\n

Professor Andrew Kim, from Korea University\u2019s College of International Studies, said religious groups are influential in the country. \u201cThe missionaries who came to Korea from the US \u2026 they are largely conservative protestant missionaries,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Uncertainties in the region<\/h2>\n

One argument for legalizing same-sex marriage is the economic advantages of doing so, especially if neighboring economies aren\u2019t. <\/p>\n

Multinational companies need to move their staff around \u2013 including those who aren\u2019t heterosexual \u2013 and have been lobbying for changes in financial hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong, which would both like to attract and retain major company HQs. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a country that welcomes these high-tech companies with very liberal policies, yet the rest of the society is repressive, like Singapore for example, where same-sex partners cannot get visas, the governments will have to think about how it manages these things,\u201d said Shawna Tang, senior gender studies lecturer at the University of Sydney. <\/p>\n

But even in the face of such pressure, neither Hong Kong\u2019s nor Singapore\u2019s government seems particularly keen to liberalize. <\/p>\n

Singapore\u2019s parliament decriminalized sex between men in 2022, but amended the constitution to effectively block court challenges that could lead to same-sex marriage. <\/p>\n

In Hong Kong, the Court of Final Appeal ordered the city\u2019s government last September to create a legal framework to recognize the rights of same-sex couples. But months have lapsed, and the government has not yet responded. <\/p>\n

The court also stopped short of granting same-sex marriage, meaning this could be as far as the efforts get. And with Beijing tightening its grip on the city in recent years, activists said, the political space needed to facilitate change is shrinking. <\/p>\n

Professor Peter Newman, from the University of Toronto\u2019s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, said while things are improving in Asia, progress has been \u201cextremely uneven.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIn at least six Asian countries, same-sex intimacy and relationships remain criminalized, as well as the gender expression of transgender people, with punishments on the books from eight years and \u2019100 lashes\u2019 in Indonesia and Malaysia, to life imprisonment in Bangladesh,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Even in places where same-sex marriage has been legalized, widespread challenges persist from school to workplace bullying to stigma in health care services, he said. <\/p>\n

But Suen, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said across Asia, public discussions have bloomed, and that Thailand\u2019s move to legalize same-sex marriage was an encouraging sign. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe outlook is positive, but it\u2019s going to take a while,\u201d Suen said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n

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