Though the winds of reform began to blow through once isolated Myanmar in 2010, when a civilian government replaced the military regime, the gay community had to wait much longer for a thaw.

A public sign came two years later when a “ladyboy cabaret” from neighboring Thailand showcased performances by transvestites at the prestigious Myanmar Convention Centre in Yangon and won applause.

It prompted a public comparison by Saw Nandar, the 65-year-old founder of Moe Gyo Nget Nge Lay Myar, a gay performance group founded in Yangon in 1967, who said Thai performers had the money and technical expertise to enhance their performances through spectacular props as well as surgery.

Their peers in Myanmar lacked both the money and the opportunities but still strove to do their best.

Now encouraged by the new spirit of openness in the country, the community is emerging from its once tightly shut closet. What’s more, the local media is ready to listen to their stories without making a judgment.

The Myanmar Times has chronicled the lives of three members of the community, including Seint Seint, Myanmar’s new style icon and makeup artist, who stands out in any crowd with his cascading hair.

Seint Seint says while the women in his family were ready to accept his being a transgender, the men were aghast and tried to make him live in a forest to toughen him up.

Even now, despite his professional success, he faces homophobia, he says.

U Aung Myo Min, executive director of Equality Myanmar, a rights organization, says Myanmar needs to change its anti-gay laws.

These include the dreaded Section 377 of the penal code, which makes sodomy a punishable offence, calling it “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”. The punishment varies from fines to jail terms of up to 10 years.

The activist told the Myanmar Times homosexuals are often arrested on sight. Some are even tortured in custody allegedly.

“We didn’t choose our lives,” he said. “We were born homosexual. We should be protected by laws, but instead we are targeted.”

However, the gay rights campaign is growing with more LGBT organizations coming up. They have been trying to create public awareness and seen some changes in people’s perceptions.

Last year, Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, saw its first gay pride celebrations as a tribute to the International Day Against Homophobia.

Though the colorful public rally, an essential feature in celebrations in other more liberal countries, was missing, still, activists said the gathering of nearly 400 people in a Yangon hotel that took place without crackdowns was another sign of the changing times.

