The ASEAN Civil Society Conference and the ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF) takes place ahead of the ASEAN Summit, which will be held in May in Myanmar. 

The ACSC/APF sees representatives from the 10 member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) meet to discuss social and human rights issues in the region.

The ASEAN SOGIE (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression) was on site to promote the rights of LGBT people in the region. One of ASEAN SOGIE primary aims is for laws that directly or indirectly criminalize LGBTI people be immediately repealed.

They also want to combat the fact that Sexual orientation and gender identity has been excluded from the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and promote equal marriage rights in the region.

ASEAN SOGIE have expressed a certain amount of optimisim, stating on their website, “The atmosphere of many of the workshops was generally quite supportive – several CSOs possessed a raised awareness of LGBTIQ issues.”

To see how ASEAN SOGIE got on with their #ASEANtoo campaign, please see their video below or have a read of their blog here.