Just two months in, and 2015 is already promising to be a momentous year for the LGBT community. From a transgender person allegedly being banned from a pub to a gay singer’s big Grammy Awards win, here are some of the LGBT moments that have been met with either sighs or applause.
No entry
Nijshanaaj Sudlarphaar, or Sarina Thai, an international model, recently filed a petition to the National Human Rights Commission after a pub in RCA allegedly refused her entry — all because she is a transwoman.
“It is not just about denying entry. This is discrimination which shows prejudice towards my gender. The solution is not to go to a different venue and forget about the incident,” said Sarina.
Some pubs across the country don’t allow katoeys to enter their establishments. This ban was imposed due to previous alleged cases of theft and prostitution.
The online community is taking two opposing stances on this issue. Many agree with Sarina that no one should be discriminated against based on their gender identity. Unacceptable actions conducted by a few shouldn’t be used to define the whole gender group and community. Some view what happened as a human rights violation.
However, many people also wonder if it is the staff’s right to deny entry to someone deemed not suitable for their venue. After all, it is a pub — a private establishment — and not a government institution. Shouldn’t they be able to choose who goes in and out of their establishment?
Finally, LGB – and, wait for it – T
After 25 years, Stonewall is now ready to fight for the transgender community.
Formed in 1989, the English-based charity has been working towards equality for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals as its priority — but never for transgenders. The decision for inclusion came about after Stonewall’s discussions with over 700 members of the transgender community. After it was announced, the news was met with positive reaction from around the globe.
The long-awaited change was viewed as a historical move by many.
Stonewall was criticised in the past for its role with the trans community. But many are ready to let bygones be bygones and look to the future.
“This change marks a significant moment in Stonewall’s history,” said Ruth Hunt, chief executive of Stonewall. “As a community we can achieve much more by standing together. This is an exciting but huge undertaking — we recognise that we are not instant experts, and will work closely with the trans community to achieve real change for LGBT people.”
Cottage cheese, Swiss cheese, or both?
Many Buddhists, along with those of other religions, believe homosexuality is a sin. To many believers of reincarnation, not being straight meant you carried out bad deeds in your previous lives.
A Bhutanese lama, however, wants to offer a different view on the issue.
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, a much respected Buddhist teacher, preached to his Bhutanese audience about homosexuality. The video of the talk was posted on YouTube late last month, though it was unclear when it was actually recorded.
The Bhutanese lama said he knew how conservative and religious minds view homosexuality as sexual misconduct. However, one should not put culture and religion together, as they are two different things.
“If your meditation is not making you see the truth, you are basically rotting your butt,” he said to a laughing crowd.
“Your sexual orientation has nothing to do with understanding or not understanding the truth. You could be gay. You could be lesbian. You could be straight. We never know which one will get enlightened first. Probably lesbians. We never know.”
He added that parents should be understanding of their children’s sexual orientation.
“You shouldn’t look at this as a disease. You know, some people like cottage cheese and some people like Swiss cheese. It’s a bit like that, really. And some people like both. And, why not?” he said.
He concluded the sermon by asking people to respect the LGBT community, and not merely just tolerate difference.
“You should not be tolerating this, actually. You should be respecting it. Tolerance is not a good thing. If you’re tolerating this, it means that you think it’s something wrong that you will tolerate. But you have to go beyond that. You have to actually respect this one,” he said.
Gay wedding and Grammys
Earlier this month, British singer-songwriter Sam Smith released a second music video for his ballad Lay Me Down to much astonishment and controversy. It features Smith — in a beautiful church — getting married to another man in front of a cheering crowd.
“This video shows my dream that one day gay men and women and transgender men and women all over the world, like all our straight families and friends, will be able to get married under any roof, in any city, in any town, in any village, in any country,” wrote Smith on his Facebook page.
The artist recently won four Grammys, including a Record of the Year award for his global hit Stay With Me. In his acceptance speech, Smith revealed he owed inspiration for the song to a certain guy.
“I want to thank the man who this record is about, who I fell in love with last year,” said Smith to the audience. “Thank you so much for breaking my heart because you got me four Grammys.”
Contact melalinm@bangkokpost.co.th if you have any views or news about queer culture and gender diversity.
