Asia’s long LGBT+ history

First, read Sarah Ngu’s thorough piece for VICE last year looking at the false claim that some Asian governments make about LGBTQ+ culture being a western import. It covers Asia’s proud non-binary traditions dating back thousands of years.

An undercovered story on one of Japan’s cultural pioneers, Rune Naito, also known as the “godfather of kawaii”, or “cuteness”. Nevin Thompson explores the lesser known legacy the designer and illustrator left: setting the stage for queer culture to enter mainstream culture (Global Voices).

Even though India saw Section 377, criminalizing sex “against the order of nature” no longer applicable to consensual adult sex as of September 2018, persecution of LGBTQ+ community in the country goes beyond that bill. Jessica Hinchy’s piece in Himal Southasia looks at the historic criminalization of Hijras by British colonizers.

Change makers and milestones

A story that has been making headlines recently is when a South Korean transgender soldier, Byun Hee-soo’s plead to stay in the army, causing ripples in a highly conservative and sometimes intolerant country (Asia Times).

At the same time, South Korea’s ‘K-pop for queer’ is part of an expanding network with over 30 groups in Asia. Beh Lih Yi wrties about LGBTQ+ choirs using music as a gentler approach to fighting discrimination. (Trust).

2019 was a year of promising changes for Japan’s LGBTQ+ community. Local governments and courts took incremental steps, rather than waiting for the go-slow Abe government to lead. Rurika Imahashi on bottom-up LGBT+ progress outpacing national politics.

Trans students at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand won a uniform regulation reform in November, after filing a complaint for the lack of official protocol and previous cases of severe penalties and discrimination toward trans students (Prachatai).

Taiwan saw a milestone in May 2019, becoming the first country in Asia to legalize gay marriage. This prompted a rush of commercial surrogacy agencies to help LGBTQ+ couples seeking to start families. Rik Glauert on new opportunities for gay couples, and a divided public (Japan Times).