LGBTQ+ rights: Where does Southeast Asia stand?

A new marriage law is due to go into force in Thailand on Thursday, granting full marriage equality to LGBTQ+ couples, including full legal, financial, and medical rights. Only two other places in Asia — Nepal and the China-claimed island of Taiwan — have similar laws in place.

The struggle to pass the law in Thailand has lasted decades.

Plus and Gaye, a Thai lesbian couple who preferred not to give their full names, told DW that the new law "gives us the courage to look toward a future beyond relationships."

After being together for nearly 20 years, they are now eligible for tax deductions, healthcare consent, and joint property management — rights that were previously reserved for heterosexual couples. 

The bill grants "basic human rights to the LGBTQ community," said Mookdapa Yangyuenpradorn, human rights associate for Fortify Rights.

But she questions whether the law will be implemented properly, saying the devil is in the details.

"Officials need to be informed and trained to avoid discrimination, whether it is when the couples register their marriage, sign medical consent forms or adoption papers."

It is also telling that gender-specific words, such as "husbands," "wives," "men" and "women," have been replaced with gender-neutral terms, but lawmakers did not include the word "parent" in addition to "father and mother."

What's next after Thailand's marriage equality bill?

Thailand has long been hailed as a haven for LGBTQ+ people. But Mookdapa doubts the country will build on the momentum of its marriage equality law.

"When the marriage equality bill was discussed in public, some would say 'they [same-sex couples] just want to love each other, leave them be'," she said.

However, if the focus shifts to things like the gender recognition bill, which would allow people to obtain legal documents reflecting their gender identity, then it becomes apparent that "transphobic attitudes still exist."

"Some people are against allowing the LGBTQ community the option to amend gender markers due to entrenched fears of (gender) identity falsification," Mookdapa added.

Vietnam: Population backs marriage equality, laws lag behind

Support for same-sex marriage varies across the South Asian region.

A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 65% of people in Vietnam are in favor of allowing same-sex couples to marry — more than anywhere else in Southeast Asia. 

Despite this level of public support, however, same-sex marriage seems a long way away in Vietnam. The country only stopped defining being gay, bisexual or transgender as an "illness" in 2022.

The current Vietnamese Law on Marriage and Family was amended in 2014 to allow for symbolic weddings that are not legally recognized in the country. The law was due to be revised in either 2024 or 2025, yet it is nowhere to be found on the parliament's legislative schedule.

Backers of same-sex marriage also face an uphill legal battle in Singapore. In November 2022, the parliament overturned a law that criminalized sex between men, but the lawmakers also amended the constitution to block full marriage equality.

LGBTQ+ people tread carefully in Muslim-majority nations

Support for same-sex marriage in Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia is the lowest in the region, with only 17% and 5% in favor respectively.

"Muslims report the lowest support for same-sex marriage of any religious group in any place surveyed," according to the Pew Research Center.

Even in Muslim nations of Southeast Asia, however, gay people face different struggles based on where they live. Same-sex relations are not outlawed in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, except in Aceh province, where Sharia law is enforced.

"It is possible to live (closeted) lives in Muslim communities [in Indonesia], provided that people are extra careful," Dede Oetomo, a campaigner for LGBTQ rights in the archipelago, told DW.

In general terms, however, "it is a war out there," said Oetomo.

"From time to time there is news of raids of gay gatherings or venues, disruption of pageants, or persecution of individuals by family or community members, sometimes by state law enforcement people," he added.

Brunei's laws call for stoning of gay men

At the same time, Oetomo says there are reasons for hope — the number of faith leaders and communities supporting the LGBTQ+  cause is increasing. They are helping introduce "a counter-narrative of religious discourse."

"In some Eastern Indonesian cities, there is an attempt by LGBTQ organizations and intersectional allies to have anti-discrimination local ordinances, with some success in Ambon and Kupang," he added.

Surprisingly, despite more people being in favor of same-sex marriage in Malaysia than Indonesia, there is still a legal ban on homosexuality in Malaysia which is punishable by a 20-year prison term. In 2023, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia would never recognize LGBTQ+ rights.

But nowhere in Southeast Asia is the intolerance as severe as Brunei. It is one of 11 countries in the world that still has the death penalty for homosexuality. In 2019, Brunei introduced new laws that make sex between men punishable by stoning to death, although this was suspended after international backlash.

Philippines, Singapore still struggle with laws

Across the Philippines, local authorities have passed a slew of local measures to protect the LGBTQ+ community from discrimination.

But at the national level, the anti-discrimination bill based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression is still blocked after more than two decades of debate in parliament.

Meanwhile, in Singapore, the government recently passed its first workplace anti-discrimination law, which is expected to come into effect in 2026 or 2027. However, the bill does not cover discrimination over sexual orientation and gender identity.

Andrew from Singapore sees this as a "massive" missed opportunity to discuss gender and sexuality issues and shift attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community in the wealthy island state. The 30-year-old Singaporean told DW that removing media censorship of positive or neutral LGBTQ+ content would also move the nation towards more acceptance.

"It is disheartening to see that Singapore media still has not changed over the years," Andrew said, adding that gay characters are portrayed as "perverts or mentally disturbed."

"I think that just really fits the whole narrative that people in the LGBTQ community aren't good for society because that's what people see and that is what the older generation would then internalize," Andrew added.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic