Though Asia may appear to be a haven of acceptance for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, there are big gaps in national policy, education and community acceptance, LGBT groups said at the phase two launch of the UN-sponsored "Being LGBT in Asia" project yesterday.
"To even have a day when we don't face discrimination or a threat of violence would be considered a good day. Most of the time, it's not like that," said Ging Cristobal, a Filipina lesbian from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.
LGBT activism in Asia "lags" behind other regions, Ms Ging said, pointing to a lack of resources. At the government level, LGBT groups should push for laws recognising gender diversity and protecting individuals against discrimination in the workplace.
Healthcare policies covering HIV-related issues and hormone treatments are also key, advocates said yesterday.
"In Thai society, we think it's paradise for LGBT people," said Prempreeda Pramoj Na Ayutthaya, a transgender woman from Unesco's HIV/AIDS national programme. "We have plenty of transgender people walking on the street and we say we are family but ironically, we have no specific policy to support LGBT people. We have no gender recognition law for people who have a sex change."
Youngsters are particularly affected by discrimination and lack of public awareness said Ms Prempreeda. Many transgender children struggle to make sense of their gender identities and fear going to gender-specific toilets at school, she said.
At home, transgender male Joe Wong from the Asia Pacific Transgender Network said children continue to be disowned by families and some have been forced into psychological conversion therapies. "It's very damaging for a young person," he said.
"When we talk about violence, we often focus on state actors, police, heterosexual bullying. But often the initial violence comes from families," said UNDP HIV policy specialist Edmund Settle.
Collaboration with faith-based groups may be a means to address the roots of discrimination, said Ms Ging. "Religion is not the enemy. [We have] good allies in Islam, Catholicism and Buddhism.
"We ask them to engage with and educate their fundamentalist factions," she added.