KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Taiwan court ruling which paves the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage has sparked praise and celebration among campaigners in a region which remains largely conservative on gay rights.
KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Taiwan court ruling which paves the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage has sparked praise and celebration among campaigners in a region which remains largely conservative on gay rights.
Just this week in Indonesia, two men were publicly caned after being caught having sex while police arrested over 140 men in a raid on a gay club.
In South Korea, a military court handed a captain a suspended jail term on Wednesday after finding him guilty of having sex with another male soldier.
The organisers of Singapore's annual gay pride rally this month told foreigners to stay away from this year's event after the government tightened rules on public gatherings.
Despite lagging behind the West in its acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, some countries in Asia have been making small steps in recent years to embrace gay rights.
THAILAND
Thailand has been seen as a bastion for gay tolerance in Southeast Asia. Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1956 and it has lifted a ban on gays serving in the military.
There is no legal prohibition for child adoption among gay couples, although a Western gay couple last year had to take the Thai surrogate mother who gave birth to their daughter to court, after she refused to cede parental rights to allow the baby to leave the country when she found out the couple were homosexual. The couple won the legal battle.
Same-sex unions are not currently recognised under Thai laws.
VIETNAM
Although not traditionally associated with gay rights, the communist state has quietly emerged as one of the most progressive countries in the region on LGBT issues.
In 2013, it abolished fines that were imposed on homosexual weddings and allowed same-sex couples to live together.
Two years later, Vietnam decriminalised same-sex marriage. It however stopped short of fully recognising same-sex union, meaning a lack of legal protection for gay couples.
CHINA
Being gay is not illegal in China and since 2001, homosexuality has no longer been classified as a mental disorder. Many large cities have vibrant gay scenes but activists say prejudice and discrimination persist.
A court in China ruled against a gay couple who sought to get legally married in a landmark case last year, in a blow to LGBT rights.
But following Taiwan's ruling on Wednesday, the state-run Global Times newspaper published an article citing a sociologist which said it was only a matter of time before China approved same-sex unions.
JAPAN
Homosexual sex has been legal since 1880, although being openly gay remains largely a taboo.
Same-sex unions are not legal but in 2015, two Tokyo districts became the first Japanese local authorities to give same-sex couples similar rights to married couples. They issued certificates that allow gay couples to enjoy similar benefits to their married counterparts, such as the ability to rent an apartment.
A 2015 survey by researchers at the Hiroshima Shudo University found 51 percent of nearly 1,300 respondents supported changing the country's laws to allow same-sex marriage.
CAMBODIA
There are no laws which ban gay sex in Cambodia. Activists began holding pride events in 2003 to celebrate LGBT rights, with film festivals and art exhibitions.
Despite this, critics say gays and lesbians are still socially marginalised. In 2007, Prime Minister Hun Sen told a graduation ceremony he was "disappointed" his adopted daughter was a lesbian.
SOUTH KOREA Homosexuality is not illegal in South Korea, but there is no legislation outlawing discrimination. Some gays and lesbians have been subject to hate crimes.
Same-sex unions remain illegal. In 2013, a gay South Korean film director symbolically married his long-term partner in a bid to convey the message that sexual minorities should be given equal rights.
Sources: USAID; United Nations Development Programme; Equaldex; Cambodian Center for Human Rights; Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment; International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA)
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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