In Malaysia, a video competition on adolescent sexual and reproductive health from the Ministry of Health sparked outrage among human rights activists, who understood it as homophobic and transphobic. Continue reading
Category Archives: Asia
International coalition targets Indonesia’s anti-LGBT abuses
Dozens of organizations worldwide have formed a coalition seeking to end persecution of LGBT people in Indonesia. In the following statement, the coalition asks for support from allies worldwide: Continue reading
Commentary: Indonesian police fuel anti-LGBT hysteria
Indonesia’s national police force should immediately investigate recent raids by local law enforcement on gatherings of gay men, Human Rights Watch said [June 2] in a letter to national police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian. Indonesia’s police leadership should commit to ending the targeting of sexual minorities and uphold their obligation to protect everyone’s basic rights … Continue reading
LGBT repression grows in Indonesia, with 141 arrests, public caning
Indonesia has ramped up its repression of LGBT people, with a public caning yesterday in Aceh province and the arrests of 141 men over the weekend at an alleged “gay sex party” at a sauna in Jakarta, the nation’s capital and largest city. The raid occurred three weeks after a similar raid in Surabaya, the … Continue reading
Bangladeshi repression leaves LGBT community reeling
Increasing desperation in the Bangladeshi LGBT community came to a head Friday, May 19, when police in Bangladesh broke up a social gathering, making 29 arrests in what seems to be part of a government crackdown against the LGBT community. Continue reading
Bangladesh activists seek funds to fight anti-LGBT law
Bangladeshi activists are seeking to raise £25,000 to mount a legal challenge to the country’s colonial-era anti-LGBT law. Continue reading
Malaysian group teaches how to report on trans people
News media need to learn how to report respectfully and accurately about trans people, so the Malaysian trans advocacy group Justice for Sisters analyzed media coverage of the February 2017 murder of the Malaysian trans woman Sameera. Continue reading
Mike Pence praises anti-LGBT Indonesia as modern Islamic model
While human rights activists criticize Indonesia’s failure to curb anti-LGBT zealots and roll back homophobic fundamentalist Islamic laws, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence praised Indonesia as a model of “modern Islam” that other Muslim-majority countries should follow. Continue reading
At India’s trans school: ‘We need to work in tandem’
For strategic reasons, India’s first school for transgender school dropouts will accept not only students who are transgender, but also applicants from other rejected minorities. Continue reading
Saudis arrest 35 Pakistanis, deny that 2 were killed
Saudi police arrested about 35 Pakistanis, including many trans women, during a raid in Riyadh that disrupted a ceremony in which members of the Pakistani transgender community choose their gurus. Pakistani activists claimed that two of the women were killed by police — a claim denied by Saudi officials. Continue reading
