Fridae

NGO representatives have rejected the draft of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration as LGBTQs and other minorities get no mention at all in the draft which has been set for ratification by the regional bloc's 10 member-states at their summit in Cambodia this November.

Hafidz Baharom, an openly gay social commentator in Malaysia, says anti-gay bashing by Malaysian politicians will likely continue as they battle for votes from the Malaysian Malay majority which makes up roughly 60 percent of the population.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak reiterates that "deviant aspects such as liberalism, pluralism and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT)" would not have a place in the country.

"Is it not known that vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is heightened by the denial of rights, such as the right of transgender people to determine their own names and gender-identity?" asks Bakhtiar Talhah, a Malaysian living with HIV and former executive director of the Malaysian AIDS Council, after the council declined to support the late Aleesha Farhana publicly.

The contributions of slain San Francisco politician Harvey Milk and the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969 that helped launch the LGBT rights movement will soon be taught in California classrooms alongside well known activists such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks who are credited for making a lasting impact on civil rights in the United States.

The resolution was passed narrowly with 23 votes in favour, 19 against and three abstentions. Today's resolution is the first UN resolution ever to bring specific focus to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Prominent Singapore gay activist and social commentator Alex Au draws on two recent news stories and cautions against over-focusing on the health benefits and/or the power of the pink dollar in arguing for the repeal of gay sex laws.

31 LGBT groups from 8 Southeast Asian countries tell their governments: LGBTs being treated as "criminals" and "second class citizens" is not "acceptable", and the "recognition, promotion, and protection of LGBTIQ rights is long overdue".

The 33-minute documentary, which is the first project of its kind about the Yogyakarta Principles and LGBT rights in Asia, will be screened in Hong Kong, Beijing and Cambodia in May while many other countries including the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand are in the process of planning events around the video. Watch the trailer now.

An estimated 200 to 400 members of Chiangmai's LGBT community – including some 70 of Burmese origin – and their supporters marched in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Sunday to promote non-violence towards members of the LGBT community.