by Rex Wockner
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Forty people from eight nations attended the first ASEAN Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer People's Caucus from May 3 to 5 in the run-up to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The caucus was part of the 7th ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People's Forum.
The group told their individual governments "that the status quo is not acceptable and that the recognition, promotion and protection of LGBTIQ rights is long overdue," according to a statement.
"In Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Burma, authorities arrest, detain and persecute individuals because of colonial laws that criminalize their sexual orientation or gender identity," the group said. "In other ASEAN countries, certain laws are abused with impunity to harass or persecute individuals whose sexuality or gender is deemed unacceptable, immoral or unnatural."
The attendees demanded repeal of anti-gay laws, recognition of gay rights as human rights, and depathologization of LGBT people in psychological circles, among other things.
Activists attended from Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore. The caucus was supported by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.