Vietnam: LGBTQ+ Pride in the Time of Coronavirus

The gay former Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir said, “It is absolutely imperative that every human being’s freedom and human rights are respected, all over the world.”

Sigurðardóttir’s message, delivered while defending LGBTQ+ rights at a 2014 Pride festival, would certainly have been welcomed by LGBTQ+ communities as far away as Vietnam, a country that still, like much of Asia, hasn’t fully advanced LGBTQ+ rights as yet.

It has been over a year since columnist Thoi Nguyen’s article, “The Fight for LGBT Rights in Vietnam Still Has a Long Way To Go” was published in The Diplomat, and it is fair to say that prejudice, discrimination, and stigma against the LGBTQ+ community still looms large, despite the ongoing efforts of local activists.

Nguyen’s piece gave a concise history into how far LGBTQ+ rights have come since homosexuality was declared a “social evil” by state-run media in 2002. While same-sex weddings have been allowed since 2015, couples aren’t fully recognized or protected under a loophole in the law regarding personal and property matters.

To honor Pride month, The Diplomat decided to follow up on Vietnam’s LGBTQ+ family and interviewed a selection of members of the community to find out how they have been faring throughout the pandemic.

Dave Khanh*, who wished to remain anonymous, is a 26-year-old working part-time as a professional dancer and English tutor. Khanh is gay and recently spoke to The Diplomat over Zoom.

“Hopefully, gay marriage will be fully legalized in the next 10 years when the younger generations have more power and say,” said Khanh.

“It is still quite challenging being gay in Vietnam, especially in the Northern and Central areas, whereas in the South, like in Ho Chi Minh City, it is a bit more open.”

Khanh confided about having a “rough time” in high school, where he was sometimes bullied for feminine mannerisms and underwent what he referred to as a form of “psychological trauma.” He went on to say that he isn’t ready to come out to his parents but said he will soon. Even today in Vietnam, it isn’t uncommon for parents to send their children to see a doctor if they think they are gay or a lesbian.

A 2020 Human Rights Watch report outlining details of homophobia and stigma in Vietnam concluded with the need for necessary changes to occur. “The first steps will include correcting the persistent widespread notion that homosexuality is an illness and needs a cure,” the report stated.

Even more disturbing is the prevalence of suicide within Vietnam’s LGBTQ+ community. “One of my lesbian friends tried to commit suicide… not long ago because of the family and societal pressure she was under,” Khanh said.

During the lockdown periods, Khanh has been working online, reading books, and watching documentaries about psychology. In Central Vietnam, there aren’t many gay bars and the most common way for gay couples to meet is over social media. He admitted the pandemic period has been hard on his romantic life as he is currently separated from his boyfriend, who is residing in the United States.

Tri Le is a 24-year-old medical student from Danang. Unlike Khanh, he was able to come out to his mother who is, fortunately, supportive.

“More and more people from the younger generations in Vietnam are coming out now, but their families aren’t always as supportive as mine and the older generations tend to have a negative attitude or prejudice towards this new trend,” he said.

Le believes that LGBTQ+ issues are just like any other human rights issues and he hopes that Vietnam’s government and its society in general will be able to treat them as such.

“My mother is quite supportive of my sexuality and didn’t force me to marry anyone so I am quite lucky. I think same-sex marriage will be fully legalized in the future but it is probably going to take another 10 years or more. More and more people are becoming acceptive of gay culture and with better education, in schools, the situation will hopefully improve for us,” said Le.

He thinks that young people’s education is the most important obstacle surrounding LGBTQ+ issues in Vietnam, and he sees it as a basic health and safety issue: “Many young people want to get information about their sexuality and so they will often search on the internet about that but sometimes that isn’t useful and can be unsafe.”

Nguyen Thi Hang is the leader of the Proud Team in Danang. She manages a LGBTQ+ Facebook page, Danang LGBTQ+ Community Confessions, and is also a board member of a women’s group, the Vietnam Women Love Women Network. During the day, Hang voluntarily supervises an LGBTQ+ facility center, which provides free HIV testing, PrEP, condoms, and informational brochures about LGBTQ+ issues.