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• Today marks another year of struggle for the rights of women. ASEAN SOGIE Caucus joins in solidarity with the movements for the rights of women at all levels of society, especially those whose struggles are waged in defiance against increasingly violent, homophobic, transphobic, and misogynist forces. #HerStory is our story, and it is a story that we will write together.

  But when we #PressForProgress for women, we must ask: for which women? Does our #PressForProgress count all women? Does the #PressForProgress end when we talk about women who love women, or women whose bodies were assigned male at birth, or women who do not fit the look and feel of “woman”? When we #PressForProgress, do we press wide enough?

  It is a point of pride for the women’s rights movements in Southeast Asia that the struggle has grown to include the rights of lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LBTQ) women. We can be proud because silence is the enemy of justice: the story of any woman removed from #HerStory is an outrage against the values the women’s movement stands for. But these stories, which were shared in last year’s caucus of LBTQ women across Asia[1], reflect an increasingly urgent situation. They tell us that “families are often sites of violence and discrimination against LBTQ persons”; that “they are at heightened risk of harassment, intimidation, arbitrary arrest, or trumped-up charges by state actors with impunity”; and that “even LGBTIQ+ movements have failed to acknowledge the serious health dimensions of the discrimination and violence that LBTQ people experience.” These are unacceptable circumstances that we must fight to address.

  Our rights are rarely given: they are fought for, and must be defended when they are won. Even as LBTQ women are embraced in the women’s movement, we cannot remain comfortable. The war that is being waged against LBTQ women in many parts of Southeast Asia has intensified their cruelties, and almost every day we find new entries into #HerStory marked by fear, grief, and even bloodshed. We cannot allow our story, which is beautiful and diverse, to be overwhelmed by so much suffering.

  Today, we call on all LBTQ women to keep claiming their spaces in our #PressForProgress, and to make #HerStory a story that captures the true spirit, diversity, and vigor of LBTQ women’s struggles. And we call on the larger women’s movement to embrace this same energy as their own, and to assert that every woman is included in the story that we write.

• #HerStory adalah Sejarah Kita: #PressForProgress Bersama Perempuan LBTQ

  Hari ini bertambah tahun lagi penanda perjuangan untuk hak-hak perempuan. ASEAN SOGIE Caucus tururt bersolidaritas dengan gerakan untuk hak perempuan di semua lapisan masyarakat, terutama mereka yang perjuangannya dikhususkan untuk melawan meningkatnya kekerasan, homofobia, transfobia, dan misoginistik. #HerStory , sejarah mereka para perempuan adalah sejarah kita juga, dan adalah sejarah yang akan kita tulis bersama.

  #PressForProgress , Mendorong perubahan ke arah yang lebih progresif adalah tema global peringatan hari perempuan internasional tahun ini. Namun demikian, ketika kita berbicara tentang mendorong perubahan bagi perempuan, ada hal yang patut dipertanyakan kembali: perempuan yang mana? Apakah #PressForProgress menghitung semua perempuan? Apakah #PressForProgress mengikutsertakan perempuan yang mencintai perempuan atau perempuan yang tubuhnya sejak terlahir bukan bertubuh perempuan secara biologis? Atau perempuan yang seringkali dianggap ‘kurang perempuan’ karena berpenampilan diluar ketetapan sebagai perempuan? Kita patut menanyakan ulang apakah #PressForProgress tak lagi biner ketika membicarakan tentang perempuan?

  Pada titik ini, sebuah kebanggan bagi gerakan perempuan di Asia Tenggara dimana perjuangan perempuan telah berada pada perkembangan, yang mencakup hak-hak perempuan lesbian, biseksual, transgender, dan queer (LBTQ). Kita harus tetap mendongak meski dalam kesunyian karena keheningan adalah musuh keadilan: sejarah perempuan yang dihapus oleh sejarah adalah tetap sejarah seperti layaknya kisah dimana pada tahun lalu Kaukus Perempuan LBTQ menyatakan sebuah pernyataan sebagai sebuah hasil dari pertemuan para perempuan LBTQ dari berbagai negara Asia dan mencerminkan situasi yang semakin mendesak. Mereka menyebutkan bahwa "keluarga seringkali merupakan tempat dimana kekerasan dan diskriminasi terhadap orang-orang LBTQ berasal"; bahwa “perempuan LBTQ memiliki resiko tinggi untuk mengalami kekerasan seksual, intimidasi, penangkapan sewenang-wenang, atau tuduhan palsu oleh aktor negara yang memiliki kekebalan hukum"; dan "bahkan gerakan LGBTIQ+ lagi-lagi telah gagal dalam mengenali persoalan yang dialami kelompok LGBTIQ terutama dalam dimensi diskriminasi sektor kesehatan dan kekerasan yang dialami orang-orang LBTQ." Keadaan ini tak seharusnya kita hadapi lagi, kita harus melawan!.

  Hak-hak kita tak diberikan begitu saja; kita harus memperjuangkannya dan harus mempertahankannya saat hak tersebut telah kita dapat. Bahkan ketika gerakan perempuan telah merangkul gerakan perempuan LBTQ, kita tetap harus berwaspada. Perang yang ditujukan untuk perempuan LBTQ di banyak wilayah Asia Tenggara telah meningkatkan kekejaman diantara kita, dan hampir setiap hari kita menemukan titik baru dimana menorehkan sejarah dengan ketakutan, kesedihan, dan bahkan pertumpahan darah. Kita tidak bisa membiarkan sejarah kita yang indah dan beragam, terbebani oleh begitu banyak penderitaan.

  Hari ini, kami mengajak semua perempuan LBTQ untuk terus mengambil ruang dalam #PressForProgress dan membuat sejarah perempuan #HerStory sebuah sejarah yang inklusi dan memasukkan semua kategori perempuan yang beragam dengan penuh semangat perjuangan. Dan kami menyeru kepada gerakan perempuan agar merangkul perempuan dalam makna yang lebih besar dengan semangat yang sama yang kami miliki, dan memastikan bahwa setiap perempuan dengan lapisan lain masuk dalam sejarah yang ditoreh dan dituliskan.

[1] For the full statement of the LBTQ Caucus in 4-5 December 2017 prior to the ILGA Asia Conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, see: Statement of the LBTQ Caucus

ASEAN SOGIE Caucus welcomes the openness of the Philippine government to engage on LGBTIQ human rights issues during the Third Cycle of the UPR. For the first time, the government dedicated a section in its national report on developments related to LGBTIQ issues since the Second Cycle. We take note of the government’s statement to the UN Human Rights Council back in May 8, 2017: “The Duterte Administration has vowed to integrate the human rights agenda in its development initiatives to protect all, especially the most vulnerable sectors, including but not limited to, the indigenous people, children, women, migrant workers, elderly, domestic workers, persons with disabilities, farmers, laborers and members of the LGBT community."

ASEAN SOGIE Caucus welcomes the decision of the Philippines’ House of Representatives to approve the House Bill Number 4982 or “An Act Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE) and Providing Penalties therefore” on September 20, 2017. The bill passed with a voting record of 198 – 0.

Shall it be enacted, the bill will provide protection for people with diverse SOGIE against various discriminatory acts such as denial of access to public services, refusing admission or expelling student in schools based on SOGIE, and harassment committed by persons involved in law enforcement. Further defined in the bill, those who are convicted of committing discrimination will be fined not less than P100,000 (USD2,000).

Amidst the euphoria of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) celebrating the association’s 50th anniversary, ASEAN SOGIE Caucus denounces the continued exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) people in Southeast Asia and calls on ASEAN to promote the human rights of LGBTIQ persons.

50 years on, member-states remain either outright hostile to the human rights of LGBTIQ people, or are hesitant to address them in fear of transgressing so-called “cultural sensitivities”. Though there have been some positive developments– specifically the inclusion of LGBT children as a “vulnerable group” in its regional Plan of Action on Elimination of Violence Against Children – these developments are few and far-between. And while ASEAN continue to debate whether to discuss these issues, violence and discrimination against LGBTIQ people continue to be perpetuated at all levels of social, cultural, and political life.

(6-8 JUNE 2017, MANILA, PHILIPPINES)

ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC) joins civil society across Southeast Asia in its call to build a region that protects and nurtures all children from violence, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).

Generally accepted interpretations of the Convention of the Rights of the Child and broader agreements among experts consider children of diverse SOGIESC as naturally falling under the protection of international human rights treaties. In the region, ASC gratefully notes that the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on Elimination of Violence against Children recognizes “children from the lesbian, gay, transgender or transsexual community” as part of its provisions on “vulnerable groups of children”. This is a welcome step forward, and we urge ASEAN bodies to continue taking action that is in-line with the global consensus on human rights.

ASEAN SOGIE Caucus strongly condemns Aceh government’s public caning of two men for committing consensual same-sex acts. Such public caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, which is contrary to Indonesia’s human rights obligations.

ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC) joins the global LGBTIQ community and all our allies in celebration of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOT).

In Southeast Asia, our members continue bravely in our struggle to make the region a place where all the colors of the rainbow can flourish. But the struggle is becoming more dangerous with each passing day, and the roll call of human rights abuses against LGBTIQ people by the governments of ASEAN countries is a long one. In Indonesia, there is a renewed call by extremist groups to criminalize same-sex relations. In Malaysia, “conversion therapy” and other dangerous practices are sponsored by government institutions. And in Brunei, LGBTIQ people are routinely arrested and beaten by state forces on the pretenses of “defending public morals”. Across the region, even in so-called “friendly” countries like the Philippines, stories of brutal physical and mental violence -- ranging from verbal abuse to criminal neglect and “corrective rape” (i.e. sexual abuse perpetrated in the belief that it will make the victim “straight”) -- continue to be shared by LGBTIQ people. And in those stories, the culprits are their own families, at the hands of those who ought to love them most.

On 8 May 2017, the Philippines underwent its 3^rd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The ASEAN member-state received a number of recommendations relevant to the protection and promotion of the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) persons. ASEAN SOGIE Caucus welcomes these inputs, especially considering the great concern of a significant number of countries on the issues of extra-judicial killings (EJKs), the lowering of the age of criminal liability, and the possible reinstatement of the death penalty.

On 3 May 2017, Indonesia underwent its 3^rd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The ASEAN member-state received more than 10 recommendations related to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Austria, Spain, Sweden, and Czech Republic. ASEAN SOGIE Caucus welcomes these inputs, especially given the alarming situation faced by Indonesian LGBTIQ people.