When will ASEAN protect gender rights?

Source: Rappler.com

Photo Credit: AFP

MANILA, Philippines - It’s one of the promises of the leaders in Southeast Asia this year – to come up with a human rights declaration for the region’s 600 million people.

Advocates of gender rights have to ask, however: what did the authorities mean when they spoke of human rights? Were they referring only to the rights of the heterosexual citizens of the region, or did they also consider the rights of the members of the lesbian, gay and transgender community across the 10-member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations?

Asian-Canadian gay youth face double discrimination

By Tara Carman
Source: Vancouver Sun

Gay, lesbian and bisexual Asian-Canadian teenagers in B.C. face a "double whammy" of discrimination that some-times leads to higher rates of substance abuse, says a study released Wednesday. These teenagers face harassment not only because of their sexual orientation, but also because of their race, said Elizabeth Saewyc, lead author of the University of B.C. study and professor of nursing and adolescent medicine at the UBC School of Nursing.