In 2017 alone, cases of violence against LGBTIQ persons in the region have increased dramatically. In Indonesia, two gay men were publicly caned in the province of Aceh on the basis of their same-sex relationship. At the same time, there is an attempt to criminalize LGBTIQ people in the country through a revision of the criminal code. In Malaysia, increasing hate crime of trans women, state sponsored/funded anti-LGBTIQ activities, especially that promote rehabilitation of LGBT persons perpetuates stigma against the community. In Thailand, Buku Books, an organization for lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women, were recipients of explicit threats of violence for “spreading lesbianism” among the youth. Elsewhere, LGBTIQ people are used as political scapegoats and the violent denouncement of LGBTIQ people is used as a means of consolidating popular support.
Standing with other peoples in Southeast Asia who have been similarly pushed into the margins of the agendas of governments, ASEAN SOGIE Caucus wishes to make clear that fifty years of exclusion is no longer acceptable. The human rights of LGBTIQ persons must be upheld just as the human rights of every person in Southeast Asia must be upheld, as enshrined in the Universal Human Rights Declaration and the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. Likewise, as ASEAN member-states have ratified human rights treaties such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), they are also legally-bound to address sexual orientation and gender identity as recognized in these conventions.
As an association that claims one identity and one vision, ASEAN must include every person at the heart of its agenda, without prejudice.
In Manila:
Ryan Silverio
Regional Coordinator
+63 917 879 7710
In Jakarta:
Cornelius Hanung
Advocacy Officer
+62 878 7608 6010
