Vietnam's First Gay Pride in Hanoi

SOURCE: Viet Pride


"The untold miseries must be told. The invisible faces must be made visible. The silenced voice must be heard. Equal rights must be given. All these goals cannot be accomplished overnight but require an undivided commitment, concerted effort, and collective action to make human rights and dignity for LGBT people a reality. For this reason, Pride has been celebrated annually since 1969 in all continents of the world to remind each and every one of us that we are born free and equal and it is not a crime or a sin to love the person we love.


This year, Viet Pride will be celebrated on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th August 2012 for the first time in Vietnam. The event will host a cultural diversity of film screenings, research presentation, and music live performance at Goethe Institute. The event serves to encourage people to come forward, to come out and to live openly with pride; to strengthen the sense of community that transcend group boundaries and differences; and to create an official and interactive forum where pro-gay organizations and beneficiary community come together, interact, and foster trust and collaborations.

In celebrating the first ever Pride in Vietnam, let us dedicate the first weekend of August to recognize and celebrate the pride in ourselves, the pride in our fellows who are fighting and striving for the truth they want to live, and ultimately, the pride in being on the right side of history."

Khmer Pryde!

Seven Questions
Source: The Phnom Penh Post

The Kingdom’s annual Pride originated with an evening party in 2004, but since 2009 has become a week-long celebration of diversity, respect and unity. Besides extending the length of the party, organisers Rainbow Community Kampuchea and Cambodian Pride Committee have broadened the focus to include greater participation of lesbians, and added film and art festivals as well as a Buddhist blessing ceremony. 7Days asked RoCK organiser Srorn Srun for a peek at what’s in store at this year’s event, which kicks off on May 12.

Is this the first ASEAN Pride week?

LesbeAsian Pryde!

Excerpt from the anthology, For Lesbians Only:  "What is lesbian? A lesbian is the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion. She is the woman who, often beginning at an extremely early age, acts in accordance with her inner compulsion to be more complete and freer human being than her society - perhaps then, but certainly later - cares to allow her.  These needs and actions, over a period of years, bring her into painful conflict with people, situations, the accepted ways of thinking, feeling and behaving, until she is in a state of continual war with everything around her, and usually with herself. She may be fully conscious of the political implications of what for her began as personal necessity, but on some level she has not been able to accept the limitations and oppression laid on her by the most basic role of her society - the female role.  To the extent that she cannot expel the heavy socialization that goes with being female, she can never truly find peace within herself.  For she is caught somewhere between accepting society's view of her - in which she cannot accept herself - and coming to understand what this sexist society has done to her and why it is functional and necessary for it to do so. Those of us who work that through find ourselves on the other side of a tortuous journey through a night that may have been decades long. The perspective gained from the journey, the liberation of self, the inner peace, the real love of self and of all women is something to be shared with all women."  Check out our latest podcast on why LesbeAsian uses the term LESBIAN. <---Click to listen.

*We realize not all Lesbians/Lesbeasians share this political point of view. Not all lesbians are feminists, not all feminists are lesbians.  But we are, LesbeAsian feminists...pho lyfe!  :)