Despite being claimed to bring benefit to the majority of people, the measures adopted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its member states to curb the infection of COVID-19 - ranging from partial/total lockdown, restriction of movement, contact tracing to surveillance – have exacerbated the pre-existing vulnerabilities of marginalised communities, particularly people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and...

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been a complex and challenging political terrain for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer (LGBTIQ) activism. The unholy concoction of conservative religious or traditional discourses and colonial penal laws resulted to criminalization of LGBTIQ persons. Five countries in ASEAN, namely, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore, have domestic laws that...