Series Talk 3｜How Do LGBT+ Build Community in Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar?

Registration: https://forms.gle/ugxdQAGCNigiACmn9

In Southeast Asia, despite Thailand’s recent legalization of same-sex marriage and Singapore’s repeal of Section 377A of the penal code that criminalizes gay sex, restrictions and harassment targeting LGBT+ communities among the region still persist. 

In Singapore, for example, whilst decriminalizing gay sex, the constitutional amendment emphasized the definition of marriage between a man and a woman. In Indonesia and Malaysia, with religious fundamentalists and the right-wing gaining increasing power, harassment and crackdowns against LGBT+ communities are becoming more intense in these years. Besides, after the coup in 2021 in Myanmar, communities of sexual minorities have been facing increasing extreme challenges.

In conflict environments where civic space is extremely constrained or closed, how do LGBT+ communities and groups exist and organize? What challenges are they facing? What are LGBT+ communities and organizations’ needs amid their movements and activism? What roles do legal protection play in such environments? In this event, we invite Southeast Asian regional LGBT+ organization and international organization to discuss the cross-cutting issues.

Speakers

Ryan Silverio (they/them) is a gender queer human rights defender with more than 20 years experience in the non-profit sector. They worked in the intersections of human rights, child rights, and LGBTQIA+ rights in various capacities. Since 2014, Ryan has served as the Executive Director of ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC), a regional human rights organization. Under their leadership, ASC achieved key milestones: transformation from a loose network into a registered non-government organization whose mission is to expand spaces for leadership and advocacy among LGBTQIA+ activists in Southeast Asia; sustained funding for a period of 9 years; and being granted with special consultative status by the UN ECOSOC.

Jennifer is the Director for Asia Programs at OutRight International. She has been devoted to LGBT rights and political reform movements for 20 years nationally and internationally. Before joining Outright as the Director for Asia Programs, she was ED of Taiwan Equality Campaign, known as Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan - an organization that pushed Marriage Equality in Taiwan.