News from KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia.
Tue Aug 16, 2011
Getting married on the upcoming anniversary of Malaysia's independence day on August 31 holds special meaning for the country's first openly gay pastor, who says he is seeking greater tolerance in this Muslim-majority country.
Malaysia's only openly gay pastor is urging homosexuals in the mainly Muslim country to "keep coming out" to help battle homophobia, as he gets set to tie the knot with his American partner. Reverend Ouyang Wen Feng is a highly controversial figure who faced outrage and threats when he opened in 2007 the first gay-friendly church in conservative Malaysia, where sexual identity is a hot-button topic.
"I think we've come a long way and it was a difficult journey.. My mum resigned herself to the fact that she would never have [grand] kids, and now suddenly she has two." The words of Faisal*, an openly gay man from India, who now lives in the UK. Three years ago, he jointly adopted two children with his partner Jacques*, who is French. The children are blood siblings and from a mixed British-Indian cultural background.
According to recent figures released by the Chinese Ministry of Health indicate that one out of three new HIV infections is gay.
The ministry said the research showed that in some south-western cities on the mainland, HIV prevalence among local men having sex with men had almost reached 20 per cent.
Hate and homophobia come in all shapes and sizes and from all quarters, although at first it was a little surprising when a well known Chinese actress triggered heated discussion and a whole load of criticism last week by citing the Bible to express her disapproval of homosexuality on various social media platforms.
A leading Pakistani right-wing party has condemned a recent function held to show support for gay rights at the US Embassy in Islamabad. They claim it to be "cultural terrorism"
When the Beijing LGBT Centre screened a pre-recorded lecture on gay-themed movies last year, the venue was so packed that latecomers had to jostle for a spot on the windowsills of the rented classroom doubling as their makeshift theatre. This year, reports Time Magazine, however, a similar event attracted only a handful of people, leaving much of the same room empty. The organizers soon realized their online announcements never reached the community. Soon after, other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups reported that their posts were disappearing from Douban, ostensibly one of China's most liberal social-networking websites. They have since banded together to boycott the site.
Taiga Ishikawa, 36, won a seat in a Tokyo ward assembly in the Japanese capital’s local elections on Sunday. He is the first openly gay person to hold office in Japan.
Mr Ishikawa told AFP: “I hope my election victory will help our fellows nationwide to have hope for tomorrow, as many of them cannot accept themselves, feel lonely and isolated and even commit suicide.”
He also said: “As a ward assembly member, I would like to reinforce support for LGBT children in schools.”
Mr Ishikawa revealed his sexuality in his 2002 book Where Is My Boyfriend?. He said: “Many of my readers told me they were isolated and that my situation in the book was so similar to theirs.”
There is outrage both in Malaysia and internationally after it became known that a group of boys, identified as effeminate by teachers have been sent to an anti-gay camp!
Tin Soe was just four when he realised he was different to other boys in his neighbourhood, but growing up in conservative and army-ruled Burma or Myanmar, he struggled to be accepted as gay by his relatives.
Taiwan’s political scene got a little more colourful over the last week or so, when a would-be presidential candidate in Taiwan refused to answer questions over her sexual orientation and lashed out at a political leader who had asked her to clarify whether she was gay.
Boy meets boy. Boy falls in love with boy. Boy has a sex-change procedure in a misguided attempt to please his lover. Boy regrets his decision, moves back to hometown and falls in love with a girl. Reports the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
Thailand’s Got Talent took a new turn recently when a contestant Bell Nunitta stunned the judges and the audience with a stunning performance.
The very pretty 27 year old sang wonderfully well with a special mix of two songs that she had put together. She really surprised everyone when she got to that point.
The judges were stunned and, without wishing to give the game away, it does have a happy ending, at least so far, as she got a yes from all three of them.
