LGBT rights and issues in AES countries

Note: This article is about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in AES countries. Due to the widespread use of the term LGBT in the Anglosphere, this article has primarily been written using this term and its variants. However, the U.S.-originated term LGBT in this article should be regarded as provisional, as the countries discussed in the article do not themselves originate in U.S. culture and their own local conceptions and histories of gender and sexuality must be considered.

LGBT rights demonstrators in Vietnam thank the National Assembly following the approval of a bill for legal gender change in 2015.

The nature and status of LGBT+ rights in current and former AES countries is a common subject of inquiry and debate throughout the political sphere, chiefly among LGBT communists looking for truth and answers regarding the actual rights enjoyed and issues faced by LGBT people under AES, among reactionary and anti-communist individuals and organizations seeking to utilize or misconstrue LGBT rights violations and policy failures under AES as a way to discredit and undermine AES countries, and by communists with anti-LGBT lines seeking precedent to uphold their anti-LGBT stances. Given these intersecting desires and aims, and in some cases, concerted reactionary and/or anti-communist propaganda campaigns, as well as the co-optation and weaponization of LGBT struggle by liberal-bourgeois and imperialist organizations for destabilization of AES countries through color revolution, the subject of LGBT rights in AES countries is often surrounded with difficulty and controversy.

Distinguishing between real problems faced by LGBT communities under AES, vs. anti-communist propaganda that seeks to use LGBT rights as a cover or vehicle for spreading misinformation and atrocity propaganda about AES countries, is a persistent issue in the discourse around this subject.

It should be noted that many issues faced by LGBT communities in AES countries are not issues found uniquely under socialism, but may be faced by LGBT individuals and communities under various modes of production, including in capitalist societies, and a dialectical materialist analysis must be maintained to understand the development of LGBT rights worldwide.

Background information, context, and terminology

Use and meaning of LGBT terminology

See also: LGBT+

LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s and originating in the United States, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity and has since come into international and cross-linguistic useage.

Despite the fact that the four-letter LGBT initialism does not explicitly encompass all individuals in smaller communities, the term is generally accepted to implicitly include those not specifically identified in the four-letter initialism.

Sukrita Lahiri, writing on the issue of terminology in international politics, says of the term "LGBT":

LGBT remains the most commonly used umbrella term in the global framework of gender and sexuality, even though it has its reductionist problems as it leaves out a host of identities like intersex, queer, and questioning.

Other terminology for gender and sexual minorities

Another commonly used term is gender and sexual minorities, under the initials GSM. Finally, another common term is the word queer, which is often used as another umbrella term for LGBT people, or gender and sexual minorities. Many people self-identify with this term, but others regard this term to be offensive and prefer not to use it. Sukrita Lahiri says of the term "queer" that it "opens up innumerable possibilities" due to the term being "intrinsically one that challenges any form of determinism" however, it "only exists in the English language and therefore it is important to be critical of the use." However, the term "queer" has been at least partially borrowed into some other languages.

These various terms are not universally agreed to or used by everyone that they attempt to encompass, and differences in usage may be found throughout various times in history, various communities, or in various contexts. In addition, local terminology in various countries and languages describing their own local sociocultural conceptions of gender and sexual minorities may be more commonly or more suitably used in a given location or context.

On the issue of translating topics regarding sexuality, Sukrita Lahiri writes:

The politics of sexuality is thoroughly altered in the process of translation [...] translating sexualities in international politics pushes one to confront notions of emancipation–colonisation, sovereignty–interference, among which global narratives are locally welcomed or repelled.

Real problems faced by LGBT communities under AES vs. anti-communist misinformation

Real problems facing the LGBT communities of AES countries coexist alongside anti-communist propaganda designed to malign these countries or incite color revolution in them, making the topic difficult to analyze, as reliable sources may be hard to come by, not only due to LGBT rights being a minority issue that often receives limited coverage, but also to the rampant intentional spread of misinformation on the subject.

In attempting to navigate through ever-present misinformation regarding AES countries, the actual problems faced by LGBT communities in AES countries, currently or historically, may at times be hard to accurately assess. Additionally, many problems faced by LGBT communities in AES countries are not problems found uniquely under socialism, but may be faced by LGBT individuals and communities under various modes of production, including in capitalist societies.

Rainbow capitalism, rainbow imperialism, and pinkwashing

Rainbow capitalism (sometimes called pink capitalism) refers to the involvement of capitalism and consumerism in the LGBT movement and the co-optation and weaponization of the LGBT movement by capitalist interests. Rainbow imperialism (or pink imperialism) refers to the whitewashing (also called pinkwashing, see below) of imperialism through the promotion of so-called "LGBT-friendly" imperialist interests and organizations, such as promotion of LGBT inclusivity into the CIA.

Another related term is "pinkwashing" (similar to terms like whitewashing and greenwashing). Pinkwashing is the strategy of promoting LGBT rights protections as evidence of liberalism and democracy, especially to distract from or legitimize violence against other countries or communities. Pinkwashing is a continuation of the political rationale used to justify colonialism on the basis of LGBT rights.

In 2011, Sarah Schulman used the term pinkwashing in a widely read The New York Times editorial citing Israel as an example of the use of the tactic of pinkwashing in public relations. Schulman states that after "generations of sacrifice and organization, gay people in parts of the world have won protection from discrimination and relationship recognition. But these changes have given rise to a nefarious phenomenon: the co-opting of white gay people by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim political forces in Western Europe and Israel." Schulman says that an opportunistically selective depiction of usually Arab, South Asian, Turkish or African Muslim immigrants as "homophobic fanatics" is strategically contrasted against the "relevant and modern" marketing image of Israel, harnessing the gay community to reposition Israel's global image, summarizing the situation by saying that the "growing global gay movement against the Israeli occupation has named these tactics 'pinkwashing': a deliberate strategy to conceal the continuing violations of Palestinians’ human rights behind an image of modernity signified by Israeli gay life."

In Anti-Pinkwashing as Emerging Hope, Sukrita Lahiri writes of the relationship between pinkwashing and imperial violence:

Historically speaking, settler colonialism has a long history of articulating its violence through the protection of certain figures such as women and children (Moghadam, 1994), and now homosexuals. Pinkwashing is just one more justification for imperial violence within this long tradition which works in part by tapping into the discursive and structural circuits produced by the West against the danger of “Islamic extremism.” In persistence of this imperial tradition, Gayatri Spivak’s (2010) well-known precept “white men saving brown women from brown men” (p. 57) gets modified with the trope of white homosexuals saving brown homosexuals from brown heterosexuals (Morris, 2010). Further, the neoliberal economic structure comfortably stretches itself to induce a compartmentalised sort of marketing of various ethnic and minoritised groups (Fraser, 2013). Thus it normalises the production of, for example, a gay and lesbian tourism industry built on the distinction between “gay-friendly” and homophobic destinations. The human rights groups voicing homosexual concerns continue to proliferate Western constructs of identity that privilege identity politics, “coming out”, increased visibility, and legislative measures as the dominant scales of social inclusion and progress.

Destabilization of AES countries via imperialist-backed NGOs

Closely related to the issues of rainbow imperialism and rainbow capitalism is the practice of capitalist and imperialist powers of using a guise of "LGBT rights" to engage in foreign meddling or to manufacture atrocity propaganda to undermine the sovereignty of AES or anti-imperialist countries.

The existence of such developments and co-optations in liberal LGBT movements and capitalist and imperialist societies can lead to or inflame preexisting anti-LGBT sentiment in countries targeted by these tactics, or cause people to see LGBT movements as unwelcome foreign or bourgeois elements. This in turn can lead to persecution or suspicion of the local LGBT community. Local, grassroots, genuine proletarian LGBT movements and communities may exist alongside opportunistic meddling by imperialists and become subject to co-optation, leading to confusion and tensions around the issue.

A criticism of such tactics is put forth by Yi Zhi in a Global Times article titled "Politicizing LGBTQI issues in China could backfire on West":

The truth is, those [Western] media outlets know very well what the issue is all about. They do not really care about the group, but rather treat it as a tool to infiltrate China, pushing their values like the so-called human rights in China. Some foreign political forces have been playing tricks over issues like feminism, AIDS, animal protection, and so on. LGBTQI has become their latest contrivance.  

Controversies over the above-mentioned topics do exist and there is room for improvement in China. But what the foreign forces have been doing is cultivating their own version of the so-called civil society in China.

[...] As long as the foreign forces which support LGBTQI groups in China respect China's sovereignty and the rule of law, China will surely have their back. There will be no problem as long as the foreign forces which support LGBTQI groups in China respect China's sovereignty and the rule of law. Unfortunately, those foreign forces often have ulterior motives. Imagine if the LGBTQI groups in the West are supported by other forces which aim at overthrowing the capitalist system, will the countries turn a blind eye to them? [...] [The West] should be careful not to habitually politicize social issues, cozying up to certain groups too much and intensifying contradictions. Otherwise, they will only cause greater social injustice, triggering fierce counterattacks by right-wing populists.

According to an article entitled "West-backed color revolution a ‘top threat’ to China’s national, political security" appearing in People's Daily, "Experts on international intelligence and security said under the intensifying China-US competition, foreign hostile forces have increased efforts to target the political security of China rather than merely conducting regular espionage activities. [...] Apart from targeting Xinjiang and Hong Kong which are traditional geopolitical hotspots, foreign hostile forces are also keen to use issues like LGBT, feminism and environmentalism which are easy to stir heated discussions on social media via disinformation and rumors to create problems by instigating conflicts between specific groups in China" and continues by saying, "Fortunately, this kind of practice is unable to cause a significant impact or escalate into a massive color revolution, since with the modernization and development of China, the majority of Chinese netizens are able to discuss these issues with a mature and reasonable attitude, and legal civil organizations on LGBT or environment protection will distance themselves from hostile foreign intervention."

Such articles as those cited above illustrate one of the main causes of rejection or suspicion of certain elements of Western-influenced or Western-led LGBT rights movements in AES countries.

Anti-LGBT sentiments among communists

Along with pro-LGBT positions among communists, anti-LGBT positions among communists and communist organizations are a reality. In past and present AES, both pro- and anti-LGBT positions and policies can be found. Anti-LGBT positions among communists often stem from a perceived association of LGBT movements with "bourgeois decadence" or "degeneracy", or with extreme individualism. Other anti-LGBT positions among communists may be traced to their opposition to the usage of "rainbow imperialism" to undermine and attack AES countries and communist movements, or infiltrate them with liberal-bourgeois LGBT rights organizations.

The 1975 Marxist-Leninist work, "Toward A Scientific Analysis of the Gay Question" composed by the Los Angeles Research Group, a group of gay communist women, seeks to provide dialectical materialist explanations and criticisms of a variety of anti-LGBT positions and lines put forth by U.S. communist organizations of the time. As the term "LGBT" itself originates in the U.S., and U.S. imperialists use of "rainbow capitalism" and "rainbow imperialism" as tools against AES countries are among the main reasons for anti-LGBT sentiments among some communists, an understanding of the contradictions within the U.S. LGBT movement is relevant to understanding international LGBT struggle.

Regarding the origin of bourgeois, opportunist, and reformist currents arising as contradictions in the U.S. LGBT movement, the Los Angeles Research Group writes:

The gay movement operated in the same context as [...] other progressive struggles. Chief among the contradictions within the gay movement, as in other groups, was the predominance of petty-bourgeois elements. The communist forces in the gay movement were also small in number and still primitive, and got very little support for their work from other communists. Many gay communists saw anti-war work and the working class movement as more important; gay women communists saw the women’s movement as a higher priority than the gay movement. As a practical result, the gay movement was abandoned by communists to the leadership of the petty-bourgeoisie to where it is now dominated, on the one hand, by a few opportunists and reformists, [...] who are bought off by government and foundation grants. [...]  The fact that anti-gay communists take the most conspicuous gay people for the whole points again to their one-sided, superficial and subjective approach.

Among the conclusions of the Los Angeles Group is the following assertion: "The contradiction between homosexuals and heterosexuals is non-antagonistic; it can be worked out through principled struggle. Communists, gays and heterosexuals alike, must unite with the progressive aspects raised by the gay movement and struggle against those bourgeois elements which exist." The work continues:

Just as men, women, heterosexuals, gays and minorities cross all class lines, any organization of these groups will reflect one or another class line at any given historical period depending on the strength and development of the different class forces. Gays are not inherently revolutionary (as some gay groups would say), nor inherently reactionary (as some “communist” groups would say). The class nature of gay liberation will change only when it is given revolutionary working class leadership. Until then, like all other groups, bourgeois ideology will fill the political vacuum. Even the working class, left to itself, can only develop trade union consciousness, which in the last analysis is bourgeois. To expect the gay movement to be any different when left without proletarian leadership is pure idealism. Gay people, particularly working class gays, are perfectly capable of enthusiastically grasping the science of Marxism Leninism and of being disciplined revolutionary fighters. To make enemies of potential allies is to abandon the working class and its interests.

Existence of non-heterosexual and gender-variant identities and practices in societies worldwide

It must be remembered that the LGBT movement that arose in the modern West is only one manifestation of a worldwide phenomenon of non-heterosexual and gender-variant identities and practices throughout history. As the majority of current and former AES countries exist outside of the West, or only on its periphery, an understanding of the local histories and conceptions of each country's own gender and sexual minorities must be investigated for a dialectical materialist understanding of their situations to be formed. As all of the AES countries have also existed in a time where the Western LGBT movement was already forming and developing, an understanding of that movement and its contradictions in conjunction with local movements and traditions would be necessary to form a nuanced understanding of the nature of gender and sexual minority cultures, histories, rights, and issues unique to each country.

On the topic of pre-modern transgender identities and spiritual traditions in Asia and the Pacific and their relationship to contemporary LGBT identities, Pauline Park writes:

There is a very wide misconception that ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender’ (LGBT) constitutes a purely modern phenomenon created by late nineteenth and early twentieth century sexologists and activists. In fact, every pre-modern Asian and Pacific Islander society had what could be termed ‘proto-transgenderal’ and homoerotic traditions which anticipate these contemporary LGBT identities, even if there are significant differences between the pre-modern and the contemporary identity formations. [...] In examining the entire history of homoerotic and proto-transgenderal traditions in pre-modern Asian and Pacific Islander societies, we must not make the mistake of romanticizing such traditions or failing to recognize the significant differences between ‘them’ and ‘us’ — meaning contemporary queer LGBT/queer APIs [Asian and Pacific Islanders], especially those of us in the diaspora. Those ancient traditions are embedded in societies which were not characterized by equality of age, gender or class relations, and many of the forms that homoeroticism and transgenderal identity took would offend our egalitarian sensibilities.

Park continues by saying that the examination of such pre-modern "proto-transgenderal" and homoerotic figures and images can have implications for political action "by challenging and disarming the false discourse of reactionary elements in the Asia/Pacific region today and in API immigrant communities that attempt to label LGBT identities as false and foreign, the fabrication of white, Western and even specifically American influence."

A map depicting colonial and imperial spheres of influence in Asia from 1850-1914.

Influence of colonialism, religion, and tradition in views and practices of gender and sexuality

In addition to local and indigenous views and practices that may be found in various societies in the world, colonialism also has left a cultural impact on many societies in regard to their views on gender and sexuality. For example, in some regions, concepts of gender or sexuality may have been more or less broad, fluid, or permissive than what was introduced or imposed on those societies through colonialism. Colonialism may also impose new religious doctrines on populations, or introduce concepts that become blended with traditional, local concepts.

Western colonialism

In particular, the current AES countries have been impacted in varying ways by Western colonialism, which typically brought Christian religious values and imposed European laws, social norms, and standards onto the issues of gender and sexuality in the countries they colonized. Depending on a variety of factors, such as the pre-existing local attitudes about gender and sexuality in a given location, the particular Western power(s) that held the most colonial influence in a region, the time period of the colonization, etc., the resulting effect on the social fabric of each society will have its own characteristics that must be uniquely considered for a proper dialectical materialist analysis.

In the AES Republic of Cuba, there is a majority Christian population, primarily Catholic. Cuba also has a significant population practicing Santería, an African diasporic religion that arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa, the Roman Catholic form of Christianity, and Spiritism. The religious situation of Cuba is illustrative of the complex overlapping cultural currents that exist in colonized nations, such as the displacement, destruction, or transformation of indigenous culture, the imposition of the colonizer's culture, and the effects of the slave trade. The complexity of this historical and cultural situation must be considered when analyzing the history and modern status of LGBT population in Cuba.

East Asian cultural sphere

The East Asian cultural sphere, also known as the Sinosphere, encompasses multiple countries in East and Southeast Asia that were historically influenced by Chinese culture. The current AES countries who have historically been part of this cultural sphere of influence are the People's Republic of China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Imperial China was a regional power and exerted influence on tributary states and neighboring states, among which were Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. These interactions brought ideological and cultural influences rooted in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. In the 21st century, ideological and cultural influences of Confucianism and Buddhism remain in various forms in these countries.

According to a study on the influence of Confucianism on modern (hetero-)sexual relationships among youths in China and Vietnam, "Traditional Confucian culture, the common base of social culture in the mainland of China, Taiwan and Vietnam, is a complex system of moral, social, political, and religious thought with regard to individual’s relationships with others and appropriate conduct." The study found that "different aspects of Confucian culture eroded unevenly and might have different association with adolescent and youth's sexual behaviors in Hanoi, Shanghai, and Taipei undergoing rapid socio-economic change."

According to City Pass Guide, sexual orientation and gender identity throughout Asia "is a complex terrain from which cultural values, family intradependence, religion, and the tumultuous legacy of colonialism grow and intertwine. As a result, LGBTQ rights vary widely in this part of the world."

LGBT rights and issues by AES country

Current AES countries

People's Republic of China

Overall status of LGBT issues

China decriminalized homosexuality in 1997 and officially removed it from the so-called white book of mental disorders, the Chinese Mental Disorder Classification and Diagnosis Standard (CCMD-3) published by China’s Ministry of Health in 2001. Xin Ying, executive director of the Beijing LGBTQ Centre, characterizes the status of LGBT rights in China by saying that "China’s situation isn’t the worst in Asia, but it still has room for improvement."

Same-sex relationships are legal in China, although same-sex marriage and adoption are not currently legal. Although same-sex marriage is not legal, Chinese LGBT couples have found other ways to gain some legal protection. For example, same-sex couple married overseas can be named as each other’s “legal guardians”, a status considered fairly similar to a civil union.

Transgender individuals are legally allowed to receive healthcare and may legally change their gender marker after receiving sexual reassignment surgery. In recent years, transgender treatment facilities have become more available in China, including the opening of a clinic for the treatment of transgender minors in 2021, where both psychological help and hormone treatment will be available.

Role of LGBT rights NGOs in color revolution and destabilization efforts in China

According to an article entitled "West-backed color revolution a ‘top threat’ to China’s national, political security" appearing in People's Daily, "Experts on international intelligence and security said under the intensifying China-US competition, foreign hostile forces have increased efforts to target the political security of China rather than merely conducting regular espionage activities. [...] Apart from targeting Xinjiang and Hong Kong which are traditional geopolitical hotspots, foreign hostile forces are also keen to use issues like LGBT, feminism and environmentalism which are easy to stir heated discussions on social media via disinformation and rumors to create problems by instigating conflicts between specific groups in China" and continues by saying, "Fortunately, this kind of practice is unable to cause a significant impact or escalate into a massive color revolution, since with the modernization and development of China, the majority of Chinese netizens are able to discuss these issues with a mature and reasonable attitude, and legal civil organizations on LGBT or environment protection will distance themselves from hostile foreign intervention."

Some of the findings of the 2017 Survey Report on the Survival of the Transgender Community in China, published by the Beijing LGBT Center and the Department of Sociology at Peking University, regarding perceived levels of "friendliness" towards trans individuals in different work environments.

Status of transgender social issues

According to the 2017 Survey Report on the Survival of the Transgender Community in China, published by the Beijing LGBT Center and the Department of Sociology at Peking University, China's policy and attitude towards transgender people is "improving", citing regulation about transgender SRS in China becoming more friendly in 2017. Among the report's recommendations were to eliminate SRS as a prerequisite for change of gender markers and names on identity documents, a recommendation to add a “third gender” category on official identity documents, to strengthen provisions in existing legislation to prohibit discrimination against transgender people, and to better respect and protect the gender identity and expression of transgender people, de-pathologize transgender people in the mental health system, to advocate for the bodily autonomy of transgender people within the medical system, and include transgender-specific topics in mandatory sex education curricula.

However, although transgender issues in China can be said to be improving, the report also found there are current significant challenges faced by the community, such as unreliable access to healthcare, widespread depression, rejection from family, and disadvantages in employment, issues which are presented in further detail in the report. For example, the report found that most responds thought that the requirements for SRS candidates in various regulations were "unreasonable." Additionally, transgender women reported the highest levels of discomfort in public spaces, with public restrooms causing the highest anxiety among respondents.

Social rejection was included in the study:

Nearly 90% of natal families cannot fully accept their transgender children. Of the 835 respondents that reported that they had disclosed their gender identity to their parents or guardians, four times as many respondents said that they had been totally rejected by their parents or guardians (38.9%) than those who said they had been totally accepted (10.9%). Of these, those most likely to experience rejection were transgender women. Nearly half (48.5%)of who totally being rejected by their parents or guardians were transgender women.

Status of transgender healthcare

According to Dr. Pan Bolin of the Department of Transformative Surgery at Peking University Third Hospital, close to 80% of the transgender community require hormone treatment.

According to the 2017 Survey Report on the Survival of the Transgender Community in China, published by the Beijing LGBT Center and the Department of Sociology at Peking University, although 71.2% of respondents who had had SRS did so in a domestic hospital, approximately one in five of these respondents reported experiencing some form of discrimination, invasion of privacy, medical accident, or complications while a patient at a domestic hospital.

Regarding hormone therapy, the report states:

Transgender people who reported using or having used hormone therapy in the past reported that the main channel through which they obtained hormone therapy drugs had been through “online pharmacies” (66%) or “obtained from friends” (51%). The most commonly reported method of using the drugs was “independently reading the directions for use or looking for information” (72%) and “consulting the opinions of friends” (66%).

The report is intended "to provide government departments, international groups, and non-profit and for-profit organizations with a statistical foundation for an up-to-date understanding of China’s transgender population."

In 2017, the Comprehensive Gender Dysphoria Clinic was opened.

In 2021, The Children’s Hospital of Fudan University opened a clinic serving transgender children and teenagers in Shanghai. According to Xin Ying, director of the Beijing LGBT Center, the hospital's move was in line with World Health Organization’s 2019 guidelines on gender-identity related health. According to an article by Shine, "Professionals will conduct evaluations, diagnoses, psychological treatments and medication" to reduce the negative emotions of transgender minors and help improve their academic performances and family relationships, noting that hospital officials "said the clinic will serve as a bridge to connect transgender children with their families, doctors and society."

According to a Global Times article about the clinic, Luo Feihong, director of the endocrine and genetic metabolic department of the Children's Hospital explained that the professional assessment, diagnosis, psychological treatment and necessary medicine intervention by doctors of multidisciplinary professions are of great help to reduce the negative emotions of transgender children and adolescents. Treatment improves their academic performance, their family relations, and builds a harmonious society.

Republic of Cuba

According to the publication Gay Community News, Cuba has announced that it is to hold a landmark ‘Family Code’ referendum which will include same-sex marriage and parental rights in 2022. The article notes:

The consultations showed that approximately 62% of Cuban citizens are in favour of updating the constitution to provide for more inclusive legislation.

Tweeting the news of the assembly’s vote in favour of holding the referendum, Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of Cuba said “The deputies have just approved the #CódigoDeLasFamilias.”

Showing his support for a yes vote he continued “They do well to call it ‘Code of affections’ because it has developed something really new: affection as a legal value.”

The article states that, as well as improving the lives of same-sex couples and their families, the proposed changes to the legislation "would also see greater protections being provided for children as well as guaranteeing improved rights for women" and mentions that if the referendum passes, Cuba would become the eighth country in South America to legalize same-sex marriage.

Lao People's Democratic Republic

LGBT activists gather in Hanoi to applaud the National Assembly's approval of a bill for legal gender change legislation in 2015.

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

According to a 2022 article by Vietnam Investment Review, "Vietnam has implemented some legislative protections for the LGBTI+ population. In 2014, the new Marriage and Family Law lifted the restriction on same-sex marriage; while Article 37 of the 2015 Civil Code [...] permits gender reassignment surgery."

In a 2020 article by the Asahi Shimbun entitled, "Vietnam’s ‘first trans dad’ shows LGBT+ openness and challenges", the birth of a child to a transgender couple "highlighted Vietnam’s position as one of the most progressive countries on LGBT+ rights in Asia" and stated that "Vietnam has quietly become a trailblazer on LGBT+ rights in Asia in recent years, with laws to decriminalize gay marriage and allow same-sex couples to live together, although it stopped short of a full legal recognition of such unions."

Grete Lochen, Ambassador of Norway to Vietnam has been quoted as saying, “Vietnam has a youthful, diverse, and proud LGBTI+ community with increasing acceptance from society. Being a lesbian myself, I have personally experienced this advancement very clearly. The country can serve as an example of inclusiveness for other nations in the area, albeit considerable work remains.”

In a 2014 article published by Thanh Nien News, it was stated that the law in Vietnam no longer specifically prohibits same-sex marriages, but says they aren't recognized by the government, saying that it does not allow same-sex partnership either, but noted that "the issue has been open for discussion during many house meetings." The article also mentions that a nationwide survey conducted by iSEE in 2013 found that 57 percent of people supported same sex couples to raise children together and 51 percent supported their rights to legally share assets.

A 2019 article states that "Quality health care services at the public Binh Dan Hospital in HCM City’s District 3 is now being offered to people in the LGBT community." Nguyen Tan Thu, a doctor specializing in serving LGBT people, said the service at a public hospital was especially important because patients had often complained about discriminatory attitudes at public hospital facilities. To meet the high demand of LGBT individuals, the hospital provides counselling about sexual and reproductive health for them and their relatives. The hospital also provides screening, prevention and treatment for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as general counselling. They are also provide counselling about hormone therapy before, during and after transition, and receive treatment for complications after transgender surgery. The article says that Binh Dan Hospital is one of several health facilities in the city providing health care services for LGBT people.

Article 37 of the Civil Code

In 2015, the Vietnamese National Assembly approved a bill to legalize sex reassignment surgery and to introduce the right to legal gender recognition for transgender people who have undergone such surgery. The National Assembly, having agreed in principle that this law should be made in 2015, have since given a mandate to the Ministry of Health to work out the specifics of that law, as well as how it should be implemented.

Regarding the slow progress of the bill, the director of the ICS Center, a nationwide legal advocacy group, stated:

“Though the transgender law is still debated within the transgender community, the main reason that hasn’t been passed is because there have been a lot of new laws proposed in the last two years,” says Linh. “At present, the transgender law is not the Health Ministry's priority. The draft bill has been proposed eight times from 2017 until now but it still hasn’t been prioritised, most likely because this law only affects a small minority of the population.” Despite this challenge, there is a palpable sense of hope and anticipation within the local community that major progress could be made in the next few years. “I don’t think we’ll never be prioritised just because we're a minority,” says Linh. “It just means we need stronger visibility, to raise our voices and express our needs.” [...] “We hope to achieve same sex marriage, hopefully in the next 6 years,” says Linh. “I hope that the transgender law will be resolved sooner, since it’s achieved more progress than the same-sex marriage law.”

Transgender community

According to a 2012 report on the transgender community in Vietnam by the Institute for Studies of Economy, Society, and Environment (ISEE), In Vietnam, the term “transgender” is relatively new, thus the usage of the term may be tricky. A number of Vietnamese terms are currently used to imply “transgender,” such as “người chuyển giới”,“người xuyên giới” or “người vượt giới.” On the other hand, the term “transsexual” is more or less unanimously understood as people who desire to have their bodies changed or have undergone surgeries for sex change. The report states that in practice, "people usually use the term “người chuyển giới”, which causes confusion in both understanding the actual meaning and the subject being referred to. This is because many transgender people do not completely “switch” to the opposite biological sex. Instead, they often have a sense of a vague gender identity, or may change between forms and genders, depending on specific time and circumstances. These individuals are commonly categorized into two groups, namely Male to Female Transgender (MtF) and Female to Male Transgender (FtM)." MTF transgender people in Ho Chi Minh City often call each other “bóng” (shadow), “bóng lộ” (open shadow). In Hanoi, they often use the word “Tigi” (Vietnamese pronunciation of the acronym TG for transgender). FTM transgender people often refer to others and themselves as “trans” and “trans guy”.

The 2012 ISEE report states, "It is obvious that the transgender group is one of the most vulnerable and stigmatised in society" and provides several examples of challenges faced by transgender people both worldwide and within Vietnam, listing examples such as prejudiced and inaccurate messages in media, violence, rape, robbery, bullying at school and lack of support from family, and difficulties in finding employment. The report also notes that transgender people in Vietnam "face prejudices also from the gay and lesbian community, who think that transgender people are the reason for social stigmas against the LGBT community as a whole."

Providing examples of problems faced by the transgender community of Vietnam, a 2020 Asashi Shimbun article quotes Mai Như Thiên Ân, a transgender man and founder of the Female-to-Male (FTM) Vietnam Organization:

“When trans people go for a checkup at the hospital, they would be denied because their gender on paper doesn’t match their appearance," [...] The biggest problem is health care. Trans people still buy and inject hormones on their own and go to ‘underground’ places for (reassignment) surgery,” said An, 26, who since 2015 has run a Facebook transgender support group with over 5,500 members.

LGBT-related media in Vietnam

The director of the ICS center, a legal advocacy group, spoke on LGBT representation in media:

“In the past 2-3 years, there has been a lot of LGBTQ representation,” says Linh. “Talk shows and reality shows create a lot of positive influence, although most of them are not perfect, and there are still stereotypes and bias. But it does bring different stories to the general public. That is something we appreciate about the media. And we will need all this visibility and much more in order to pass the transgender law in Vietnam.”

The article notes that though stigma and harmful stereotypes certainly remain in pop culture, LGBTQI+ representation seems to be steadily increasing and improving in Vietnam. Citing examples, the article says that in the Spring of 2019, popular TV game show Người Ấy Là Ai featured a young gay male contestant who shared his story on national television. His parents later joined him onstage and talked about how they had come to love, accept, and celebrate their son for who he is, and former Vietnam Idol singer and transgender pop icon, Huong Giang, is also a regular judge on this show, which has subsequently featured a handful of other LGBTQI+ contestants.

In contrast to these recent increases of positive representation in media, a 2012 study on challenges faced by the transgender community in Vietnam, by ISEE, describes the state of LGBT representation in media back in 2012: "Prejudiced and inaccurate messages in the media and telecommunication channels have created and enforced misleading perceptions and social stigmas. Transgender people are described as 'homosexual', 'ridiculous' or 'sick'. They are not even regarded as a community" and adds that "the media often mistakenly regards transgenderism and homosexuality as the same, which causes the homosexual community to distance itself from the transgender community."

As of mid-2022, the Vietnamese LGBT+ YouTube Channel "Come Out - LGBT Việt Nam" had 328.6K subscribers and features interviews of LGBT individuals in Vietnam.

In 2015, a biographical documentary film called Finding Phong (Vietnamese: Đi Tìm Phong) was released, following the journey of a Vietnamese trans person seeking to transition and receive sexual reassignment surgery. According to VN Express, it was the first independent Vietnamese documentary to be screened in the country's top cinema chains, and Vietnamese film authorities gave it a rating of "suitable for all ages."

According to an article titled, "Founding A Community For Transgender Men in Vietnam" from Trans World View, there was "practically no visibility" for transgender men in Vietnam in 2009. However, in that year, "a young transgender man named Nguyễn Thiện Trí Phong, who goes by Aki, began sharing his experience of being transgender through newspapers, television, and other media." This increased visibility helped the community of transgender men in Vietnam become more visible and grow. According to Mai Như Thiên Ân, the founder of FTM Vietnam, "[Before him], if transgender men took hormones, they went ‘stealth’ and tried to live like cisgender men. Young transgender men who were not taking hormones were afraid and said they were lesbians. Aki’s visibility helped create a safe zone." According to the article, the website LesKing also gradually began expanding to include transgender men. In 2011, it featured an article that helped its readers understand the differences between identifying as “SB,” a tom/tomboy (another identity for a masculine woman), and a transgender man. The article states: "it was an “aha” moment for hundreds, if not thousands, of transgender men like Ân who finally felt they had a way to explain their identity."