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1 Vietnamese Grassroots GLBT Organization Emerges 7/97 1a Gay Life Is Persecuted and Condemned in Vietnam 7/99 2 Vietnam Approves Historic Trade Pact with U.S. 11/01 (non-gay background story) 3 The Vietnam War and Gay Men (1998) 4 Things are gradually improving for southern California Vietnamese gays 4/02 5 Gays in Vietnam seek an identity 8/03 6 Men who have sex with men and HIV in Vietnam: A review 2003 (book excerpt) 7 New TV crime series enters gay territory 7/04 8 Press Release: Asian Gays and Lesbians Celebrate 10 Years of Online " Utopia "12/05 9 Chung: A new year: Vietnamese and openly gay 2/07 10 British pianist banned from Vietnam 5/07 11 Vietnamese high school pupils accepting of homosexuality 10/07 12 Until he came along, homosexuality remained firmly stashed away in the closet in Vietnam 6/08 13 Things Looking up for Gay Community in Vietnam 8/08
29 July 1997 1 This letter was written in English by an emerging grassroots group in Ho Chi Minh City. If you wish to contact them, please use the private E-mail address mentioned at the end. As in many SE Asian countries, AIDS has been the issue that gays first organized around, creating, in addition, a place for open discussion of GLBT issues. Our friend who attended a meeting of the group last week said that it was composed of about 50 people, including transexuals and lesbians. It is the only Vietnamese group with any sort of program specifically aimed at the concerns of GLBT. Dear Gay Associations of the World: Nguyen Friendship is a society working in HIV/AIDS preventing for gay community in Ho Chi Minh City. Today we write a letter to request advice from gay associations in the world, for protect our group in Vietnam and also uniting of all friends in the world. First we would like to introduce our activities: 1.In the group there is: a leader, a secretary, a cashier, the press group, the musical group, outreach team and volunteers. Together we are part of 10,000 people who are homosexual in Ho Chi Min City and 800,000 - 100,000 gay people in the provinces. 2.Every month, we ourselves issue hand-size leaflets to send to them (see image on the right). In those, the most of news were translated from foreign information and magazine, so it is very little. This is a problem we hope you can help us with a lot of abundant information. 3.Besides, we also practice the money saving project to help poor gays in their difficult life now. this project raises 100 USD (1 million VND) in the work. We have a difficult problem to solve because we don't have a lot of experiences. Could you advise us, please? 4.We always hold meetings, activities, and studies so we can think about AIDS clearly. Sometimes we also discuss the gay way of life and hope to normalize relations with other people and family, and avoiding despising and discrimination. All is our activities, however we still have problems, because this is a small group that are usually despised by the oriental society. It's important that we haven't been supported yet by any associations or personal support. For that reason, some projects are obstructed as: (1) Teaching and training careers to help LGBT people in the difficult life. (2) Bring up education and raise their knowledge about AIDS. With the projects, we would like to hope that you could help us advise of spirit and material. All of us unite in the spirit of mutual help and friendship with purpose: DON'T DIE OF IGNORANCE and LET'S HAVE SAFER SEXUALITY. We look forward to hearing from gay associations in the world. Yours truly, Nguyen Friendship Society E-mail to: isarnboy@best.com Recents
comments from Nguyen Friendship Society (2001) We are a group of about 50 volunteers working to prevent HIV/AIDS among gay and bisexual men in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. Because there is considerable gay discrimination in Vietnam and because groups like ours are not considered legal, we work very quietly. Our friends abroad publish this Internet information for us, and act as our "Ambassadors" to the outside world. They also provide moral, technical and organizational support, carry information and materials, and raise money. Our most important work is AIDS prevention and education among men who have sex with men ("MSM"), which includes many, many bisexuals.Homosexuals here are socially and politically invisible. Most foreign non-government organizations here include AIDS with womens health programs. Although AIDS is still a small problem among Vietnam's gays and can be stopped completely, foreign sex tourism is on the rise. Many visitors leave behind everything they know about safe sex when they come to Viet Nam. Unfortunately, we have learned that one third of Vietnamese men who have sex with foreigners do not use a condom, and may have never used a condom before. The Vietnamese government has few resources, which leaves the responsibility to a grassroots organization like ours. Free condom distribution in Vietnam is still rare, and we have pioneered this work among MSM. Condoms are distributed in many public places (including coffee houses, karaoke clubs, swimming pools and brothels) where men meet other men for sex. Volunteer teams cruise the "dark streets" at night, to distribute condoms and our simple safe sex leaflets to men looking for sex. We could give away 5000 a week if we had them. Usually we have none. If you like what we are doing there are ways you can help. We are grateful for tax-deductible financial gifts in any amount. In additional to nominal operating expenses, our group badly needs $2000 to buy its own motorbike. We also need money for rent, for condoms, and for printing safe sex information.
July 7, 1999 1a by Tien
Nguyen, Lam Tran, and Tom Le San Francisco The March
9 1999 issues of the Cong An Xa Hoi (Social Policing) published the
article "The Gioi Pe-De va Nhung Ket Cuc (The Gay Life Style
and Consequences) by Dang Hong Giang condemning homosexuality. He
quoted the Ministry of Education stating that homosexuality
is a problem with
no known cure which spreads communicable diseases, causes mental
illness, and creates emotional havocs; stated that the Vietnamese
culture and
society cannot accept homosexuality; called for strict laws prohibiting
gay marriage; and warned each person and their family of being on
the watch for this plague. November 28, 2001 2 by Reuters,
Hanoi The National Assembly voted 278 in favor and 85 against the market opening pact, which was ratified by Washington last month. The trade pact, which took years to negotiate and sixteen months to fully ratify after signing in July 2000, will finally remove Vietnam from a small group of states, including North Korea, Afghanistan, Serbia and Cuba, denied normal trade relations with the United States. Economists say Vietnam will see the most immediate benefits as tariffs on its exports are slashed to about four percent from 40 percent. Trade Minister Vu Khoan told a news conference the two countries were completing legal formalities to allow for implementation, expected from the start of next year. "With this event, the process of normalising relations between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the United States has been fully realized,'' Khoan said. U.S. Charge d'affaires Robert Porter said the United States was confident the pact would take effect by year's end and would do much to dispel remnants of mistrust from the Vietnam War. "(It) is further evidence that two countries are engaging in a broader, more open relationship,'' he said in a facsimile message answering questions from reporters. Vu Khoan said Vietnam had always stressed its willingness to consign the past to the past, but added that U.S.-Vietnam ties needed to be based on mutual respect for independence and non-interference in each other's internal affairs -- terminology Hanoi uses to ward off criticisms of its rights record. Do Van Tai, head of the assembly's external relations department, said the vote for ratification would have been higher had it not been for a bill approved this year by the U.S. House of Representatives that would tie future U.S. aid to Vietnam to greater respect for rights. VIETNAMESE CRITICIZE HYPOCRISY ON RIGHTS Assembly delegates reiterated calls for the bill to be scrapped, arguing it was hypocritical given the damage the United States had done to Vietnam during the war that ended with a communist victory in 1975. Khoan said more needed to be done to repair war damage. Washington imposed a punishing trade embargo on Hanoi until 1994, a year before normalization of diplomatic ties under the Clinton administration. If properly implemented, diplomats say the pact should ease Hanoi's eventual accession to the World Trade Organization. Khoan said it was a very important step toward WTO accession, something shown by a plan by the global trade body's director-general Mike Moore to visit Hanoi Thursday. "We shall now start to discuss the essence of our application to join the WTO,'' he said. "We have already had four rounds of talks with the WTO, but they have been about transparency only.'' Khoan said the National Assembly had instructed the government to takes steps to tighten observance of intellectual property rights, a key requirement of the trade agreement, and admitted that implementation of existing laws was a problem. Khoan added that further talks would be necessary with the United States to reach an agreement covering textile imports. Earlier this year analysts said the trade pact could double Vietnam's annual exports to the United States to more than $1.0 billion within one or two years. But that expectation has been tempered somewhat by the global economic downturn and the turmoil that has followed the September 11 attacks on the United States. Kazi Matin, the chief World Bank economist in Hanoi, told reporters the trade agreement should provide a boost despite the current slackening of U.S. demand. ``I think Vietnam can still expect some growth of its exports to the U.S. in 2002, and probably a much faster growth rate in 2003 and 2004 when the recovery starts,'' he said. 1998 by David
Bianco Many gay men, like Leonard Matlovich (who later made a test case as an openly gay soldier), willingly enlisted for tours of duty in Vietnam. At the time, Matlovich felt it was his patriotic duty to "kill a Commie for Mommy." But in retrospect, he wondered about his real intentions in enlisting. "I was so dissatisfied with being gay," he later recalled, "that in some ways, volunteering for duty in Vietnam was like a death wish or a suicide pact." Matlovich also noted that he signed up looking for male companionship. Gay soldiers developed an underground network for finding each other, much as gay men always had done back home. Gay G.I.s had to be particularly careful, because they were in jeopardy of court martial and prison or dishonorable discharge if caught or turned in. That risk lessened somewhat as the war escalated and the Armed Forces needed more and more fighting power. During the war, there were at least two gay bars and several other gay-friendly ones in Saigon, though it was risky for servicemen to frequent them. "You ... have to be in uniform when out of quarters," one gay sergeant told The Advocate in 1971, "and this makes promiscuous bar-hopping dangerous.... Also, there's a 10 p.m. curfew." But gay G.I.s claimed that the best cruising actually occurred right on the bases - at the USO service clubs in Cam Ranh Bay and Danang and at the military swimming pool near the Tan Son Nhut Air Force base. The verandah of the officers' club at China Beach was also a gay hot spot. At the front, there was of course much less opportunity for privacy and intimacy. Many gay soldiers experienced come-ons from straight comrades who were sexually frustrated by being away from women for long stretches. Stateside, other gay men did everything in their power to avoid military service. Rey Rivera (a.k.a. Sylvia Rivera, one of the transvestites arrested at the Stonewall riots) was drafted in 1967 at 18 and decided to report to the local draft board in full drag - high heels, miniskirt, and red nails. The sergeants in charge assumed Rivera was a woman. But Rivera corrected them and was promptly sent to the psychiatrist, who asked if there was a problem with his sexuality. "I don't know. I know I like men," Rivera replied. "I know I like to wear dresses. But I don't know what any (problem) is." The doctor quickly stamped "HOMOSEXUAL" in red across Rivera's draft notice. Claiming to be gay became a popular way for straight men to avoid the draft. One draft resisters' manual from 1968 dispensed stereotypes and epithets along with advice: "Act like a man under tight control. Deny you're a fag, deny it again quickly, then stop, as if buttoning your lip.... And maybe twice, no more than three times over a half-hour interview, just the slightest little flick of the wrist." The early gay liberation movement was the scene of both draft resistance and anti-war protest. Gay groups and publications encouraged members to resist serving. "Homosexuals will not fight in a war that fucks us over in all its institutions," read an editorial in a San Francisco gay paper late in 1969, summing up the attitude of many gay leftists. "We will not fight in an army that discriminates against us." Many of those who founded the Gay Liberation Front (which took its name from the Marxist National Liberation Front of Vietnam) had been active in anti-war demonstrations before Stonewall, like the first Moratorium on Washington. After gay liberation took off, they continued the campaign. During the December holidays in 1969, GLF handed out flyers in Greenwich Village near the site of the Stonewall rebellion encouraging people to wear black armbands and to send gifts to G.I.s in Vietnam in the name of peace. The following spring, GLF-ers shouting, "Suck Cock, Beat the Draft!" joined a protest in Washington that ended in a "nude-in" in the reflecting pool in front of the Washington Monument. For Further
Reading:
April 15, 2002 4 by Anh
Do Cheers were wild. "It was an abnormal phenomenon," the publication wrote this month, "and this is foreign to our country's tradition. "This monstrosity," it went on to say, "poses a headache for officials in charge of culture and education." Why continue to write this? I ask Hoa, active for more than a decade in Orange County's Gay Vietnamese Alliance. Friends going back to Vietnam every year tell him that accepting the political identity of lesbians, bisexuals, gays and the transgendered is a new concept. There is a desperate need for public role models to speak for the voiceless who are proud of who they are, north to south. In our community here, total tolerance is still a dream. But the local scene is more open as he and others step up to promote social and networking opportunities in which participants can express their individuality. Just in the past couple of years, Vietnamese nightclub-goers have seen a more visible presence of gays in the audience and on stage. The magnetic Brigitte Thuy Tien, chanteuse at area hangouts like Moulin Rouge, Music City, Can's, Majestic and MVP, charms listeners with her French songs, translated from old tango tunes. They applaud her as a male performer in glamorous gowns. Diem, the weekly entertainment magazine, publishes ads for social and health services at the Orange County Gay and Lesbian Center. It also printed a full-page notice for Cafe Tinh Trai, a support group for Vietnamese gays that meets each Sunday and is sponsored by the Asian Pacific Aids Intervention Team. Mimi News, a bilingual monthly, profiled Sabrina, a popular Vietnamese transsexual, in its March issue while Hop Luu, a literary journal, recently published a poem by Le Nghia Quang Tuan, celebrating sexual intimacy between two men. More and more, ethnic radio and television debate gay issues in talk shows. "The general perception is that it's no longer a silent taboo, that homosexuality is not a physiological disease," said Hoa, in his 40s. "I believe the public has recognized my peers, that we are part of the Vietnamese Diaspora. As for their acceptance, it's only a partial embrace. The initial moral judgment persists." And so do the myths, he adds, such as gay Viets are "artistically inclined," doing well only in "beauty-oriented businesses." Vietnamese, singer Brigitte says, "could even be more advanced, more tolerant, but they're influenced by the conservative American population. That can affect their way of thinking." So the crooner chooses songs from the 1950s and '60s and tries to please the crowd. "It's a way to educate people. We're not bad, and we're never boring," says a laughing Brigitte, 32, a French-language graduate of California State University, Fullerton. To make more strides, GVA members say perhaps they can set up a booth at Tet festivals or man a table on weekends outside the Asian Gardens Mall, the most visible landmark in Little Saigon. They want to reach young, Americanized Vietnamese who flood chat rooms and are coming out at an earlier age than the previous generations. Yet gay Viets lack an issues forum, activists say. There is no lobby group working solely on their behalf, they have no political representation. Even the Asian Pacific Aids Intervention Team in Garden Grove trying to help has not been able to go into high schools, where officials preaching abstinence will not allow them to interact with students in gay-straight alliances. Nolan Same, the group's youth advocate, says the Vietnamese, like many Asians, "would rather not talk about homosexuality, which they view as a dishonor. The young people know it's something you just don't bring up. You're raised to put your family first and to follow their wishes." And many parents come from the old country, where the government considers being gay an "ill" and blames it on bad Western ideologies. Homosexuality is not a crime in Vietnam, but such men and women are seen as "sick" people ruining local morals. "My husband and I have been told this, time after time, it's sort of like brainwashing," says a mother from Fountain Valley who is learning to accept her daughter's gay orientation. She isn't surprised by the newspaper story published about Vietnam's gay parade, but she is surprised that there aren't more outlets to help Vietnamese gays in Orange County. "I suppose this attitude may not change soon, but the push has to start and it has to start here." August
4, 2003 Although relatively free from discrimination, some Vietnamese gays feel their existence is ignored rather than accepted (AFP) With his pink lipstick, eye makeup and black nail varnish, Ti prefers not to shake hands and instead raises his arm into the classic, clichéd limp-wristed position. "I knew I was gay from the age of five or six," said the 27-year-old, sitting in a coffee shop in Vietnam's southern business capital of Ho Chi Minh City. "I started wearing girls' clothes at first, and then when I was about 14 I started wearing makeup." Ti stands out everywhere he goes in the city, whether he is with other gay men or not. "I don't care what people think. I don't feel discriminated against anyway. I've never been attacked or verbally abused," he said. While cross-dressers are few and far between in the bustling metropolis, homosexuals are not. Two years ago, Chung A, the head of the country's anti-AIDS, prostitution and drugs committee, declared that the number of gays in Vietnam could be counted on the fingers of his two hands. By March this year, Chung had changed his tune. "The number of homosexuals has increased a lot and the issue of AIDS prevention in this group needs to be addressed," he was quoted by the Lao Dong newspaper as saying. The dramatic increase in the number of openly gay men in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi has sparked considerable media interest, with most newspapers labeling homosexuals as being either ill or victims of a current trend. In the women's magazine The Gioi Phu Nu, a married man wrote in to an agony-aunt column in May to express his distress at having fallen in love with a young man. The response was less than sympathetic. "It's fortunate you and the young man are conscious of your 'horrific love affair' and that you want to find a way out," said the magazine's advice columnist. "I suggest you find a doctor who specializes in this field, be brave, admit your sickness and get cured." The family magazine Tiep Thi Va Gia Dinh also did not mince words on the topic of homosexuality. "Loving people of the same sex is deviant behavior that is incompatible with the good morals and time-honored customs of Vietnam," it asserted in a March issue. But Le Hoang, the popular director of the controversial sex and drugs movie Bar Girls, struck a softer tone when he answered questions about homosexuality on a Vietnamese Web site in May. In response to a man who said he could tolerate neither the genuinely "ill" gays nor the fashion victims, Hoang said: "Why? Are you gay yourself? Gays are ill, but there is no law saying ill people should be punished." "Qualities such as morality, talent and dignity do not depend on sexuality. In Denmark, gays can marry. Well, Vietnam may not be Denmark, but we're not back in the Roman times either." Outward discrimination of the kind sometimes found in Western countries is rare in Vietnam, possibly because homosexuality does not yet exist as a firm concept in Vietnam and also because a large degree of same-sex tactility is accepted as normal in Southeast Asian cultures. "Gay identity is not well established in Vietnam. A man could have sex with another man and not consider himself gay," said Donn Colby, a Fulbright Research Scholar who conducted a survey entitled Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) in Ho Chi Minh City in 2001. "Because of this the number of men who experiment with sex with other men is probably higher here than in the West." Those who do identify themselves as gay are careful about how, and to whom, they reveal their sexuality. Tam, a 24-year-old graphic design artist, has never told his parents, fellow students or work colleagues that he is gay. "If you don't officially announce it, then people are obliged to treat you equally," said the slightly-built amateur DJ. There are no laws or regulations on homosexuality or homosexuals in Vietnam, and no mention of gays as a risk group for HIV and AIDS. Donn Colby believes the omission of homosexuals from public HIV prevention messages has encouraged MSM to underestimate their vulnerability to infection. The misconception is worrying, given that Colby's survey of 219 MSM concluded that members of this group have multiple sexual partners, do not use condoms regularly and are at high risk of contracting HIV. "But things are changing slowly," said Colby. "A programme (funded by the Ford Foundation) on men's sexual health in Nha Trang includes MSM." Male prostitution and public sex venues are widespread in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Zoos, parks, lakes, swimming pools and saunas have all been identified by state-run media as venues for sex between men. But while police find it hard to take action against gay activity in public places, they move decisively on male brothels. One of Ho Chi Minh City's few male brothels was closed down last year and its owner slapped with a 10-year prison sentence. The mainstream gay scene in the southern metropolis is also facing hard times, with its only gay club shuttered, ostensibly for refurbishment. Minh, a 24 year-old architect with a French boyfriend, expressed his frustration at the gay community's lack of clear identity. "I just think we should think more about us as a group. We should let people know that we exist," he said. "Coming out is not enough. We need a voice."
Donn Colby, Nghia Huu Cao, and Serge Doussantousse -Donn
Colby is with the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University
of California,
San Francisco, and the Columbia Asia Medical Center, Ho Chi Minh
City, Vietnam. Men who have sex with men (MSM) in Vietnam’s urban centers are increasing in numbers and visibility. Although limited to a few surveys, the available data on MSM in Vietnam show that they are at increased risk for HIV infection due to high numbers of sexual partners, high rates of unsafe sex, and inconsistent condomuse. There are significant numbers of male sex workers in Vietnam and these men are also at high risk for HIV infection. The lack of data on HIV prevalence among MSM and the fact that the media and public health prevention programs ignore MSM as a population at risk leads many MSM to mistakenly believe that their risk for HIV is low. The low perception of risk, combined with inadequate knowledge, may make MSM less likely to actively protect themselvesfrom HIV infection. More research is needed on current behavior and HIV prevalence among MSM andmale sex workers in Vietnam. MSM in Vietnam’s larger cities could easily be targeted for prevention using peer educators to decrease their risk for HIV infection.The situation of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Vietnam is changing rapidly. On one hand, rapid economic growth and liberalizing social attitudes in the larger cities have allowed the emergence of large and increasingly visible homosexual population. On the other hand, homosexuality is definitely not considered normal or anacceptable lifestyle in Vietnam and the majority of homosexual men keep their sexual orientation secret. Increasing communication with the rest of the world has also allowed urban MSM in Vietnam to learn from gay rights movements in other countries. Gay foreign tourists and Viet Kieu, ethnic Vietnamese who live in Western countries and return to Vietnam to work or vacation, are commonly encountered in MSM identified venues in the larger cities. The term gay is now being adopted by many urban MSM to describe a male homosexual. Although MSM may be increasingly visible, there has been very little published research on homosexuality in Vietnam (Khuat, 1998). In fact, there had been very little published research on any aspect of sexuality in Vietnam prior to the emergence ofthe HIV epidemic. Therefore, most research in Vietnam that deals with sexuality and AIDS Education and Prevention, 16(1), 45–54, 2004© 2004 The Guilford Press All of the few published studies that even mention homosexuality have focused on the relationship between sexual behavior and the risk for acquiring HIV infection. In this article we will review the current situation of MSMin Vietnam, with attention to sexual behavior and the risk of transmitting HIV infection. Where available, the information in this review comes from published studies on risk behavior, knowledge, and attitudes regarding HIV. Also cited is information from the Vietnamese media, which for most people in the country is the only available source of information about homosexuality. The media therefore influence public opinion even if, given that they are entirely state controlled, they do not necessarily represent all of the attitudes and opinions toward MSM and homosexuality present in Vietnamese society today. Media reports also give insight into the attitudes and biases of the country’s political rulers, who through state censorship manage what is written and published. Our aimis
to try to relate an understanding of the situation of Vietnamese
MSM in relation
tothe
HIV
epidemic in the
year 2003. Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia and shares land borders with Cambodia, Laos, and China. Its population in 2001 was 79 million, of which 80% was rural. The populationis very young, with a median age of 23. Literacy is high at 93% (UNAIDS/WHO, Working Group on Global HIV/AIDS and STI Surveillance, 2002). In 1986, the government of Vietnam established the policy Doi Moi, or “new change,” which allowed increased private enterprise and foreign investment. In 1995,Vietnam normalized relations with the United States and joined the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Economic growth has been rapid in the past few years, especially in the urban areas. Nevertheless, Vietnam remains a poor country, with a year 2000 per capita gross national product (GNP) of U.S. $404 (Asian Development Bank, 2002). Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam, with a population of about 7 million. It is located in the south and is the commercial center of the country. Hanoi, with a population of about 2 million, is the capitol of Vietnam andlies in the north of the country. The distance between the two cities is more than 1,300kilometers (700 miles). HIV IN VIETNAM The first known case of HIV infection in Vietnam was reported in 1990 (World Health Organization [WHO], 1999). The number of new HIV infections reported peryear has risen dramatically from less than 2,000 per year in the early 1990s to 4,316 in 1998, 9,329 in the year 2000, and more than 15,000 in 2002. By the end of 2002, the cumulative total number of infections reached 59,200 (Vietnam Ministry of Health,2003). Intravenous drug users (IDUs) are the largest group affected, constituting 62% of infections (Vietnam Ministry of Health, 2003). Other known high-risk groups in Vietnam are female commercial sex workers (CSWs) and patients in sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics. Fully 35% of infections have no reported risk factor and 85% of infections occur in males. UNAIDS estimated that there were up 130,000 people living with HIV in Vietnam at the end of 2001 (UNAIDS/WHO, 2002). Sentinel surveillance for HIV in Vietnam targets six populations in 20 different provinces: patients in STD clinics, female CSWs, IDUs, tuberculosis patients, pregnant women, and male military conscripts (Nguyen et al., 1999). Information on risk behavior, other than category of surveillance, is not recorded (WHO, Regional Officefor the Western Pacific, 1999). MSM are not included in routine surveillance. In Ho Chi Minh City, the number of new infections identified in the city more than doubled from 1,164 in 1999 to 2,940 in the year 2002. Prevalence rates have been rising rapidly in most surveillance populations in Ho Chi Minh City and in 2002 reached 76% in IDUs, 26% in female CSWs, 8% in STD patients, 3.4% in male military recruits, and 0.9% in pregnant women (Provincial AIDS Committee of Ho ChiMinh City, 2002). In western Europe, Australia and the United States, the majority of people infected with HIV are MSM (United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, 2000). In Asian countries that include homosexual sex in their statistics, MSM have been found to beat increased risk for HIV infection (Chan et al., 1998). Prevalence of HIV among MSM in Cambodia in the year 2000 was 15% (Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic[MAP], 2001). Among Japanese men, homosexual sex accounts for three times a smany HIV infections as heterosexual sex (MAP, 2001). Research in Thailand has shown an increased risk for HIV infection among male military recruits reporting same-sex behavior (Beyrer et al., 1995) and among male sex workers (MSWs) (Kunawararak et al., 1995). In Vietnam, sentinel surveillance does not include MSM, and behavioral surveillance surveys do not ask about same-sex behavior. Therefore, there are no data on therelative importance of homosexual sex in the overall HIV epidemic or in relation to other risk behaviors. HOMOSEXUALITY AND VIETNAMESE SOCIETY There is very little information on homosexuality in Vietnam prior to the emergenceof HIV as a public health problem in the 1990s. In Vietnam there is no tradition of an accepted or historical role in society for homosexual men. This is in contrast withother Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Laos, where effeminate menknown as kathoey have a long tradition of an accepted albeit highly stigmatized role insociety (Chan et al., 1998) .The most notable aspect of Vietnamese society’s view on homosexuality is its lack of attention to the matter. The 1990 government plan for responding to the HIV epidemic noted that: “Homosexual behaviour probably occurs in VietNamas in mostother countries, but there are no formal meeting places or organized homosexualgroups. This mode of transmission is therefore not considered to contribute significantly to an eventual spread of HIV in Viet Nam” (Vietnam Ministry of Health, 1990,p. xxx). In 2002, when interviewed about the HIV epidemic, the head of the communicationdepartment of the National AIDS Committee was quoted as saying, “My guess is the number of homosexuals in Vietnam is only a few hundred” (Tran, 2002). Even the law in Vietnam ignores homosexuality. There are no laws against homosexualityor homosexual sex in Vietnam, a fact that probably owes more to in attention rather than to any progressiveness on the part of the legal system. A common belief about MSM in Vietnam is that most are not truly homosexualbut merely temporarily following a Western fashion or trend. This idea can be seen inthe writings of Dr. Tran Bong Son, the most famous sexologist in Vietnam. He has written numerous books on sexuality and frequently answers questions about sexualissues in newspapers and magazines. Although his views on homosexuality are based more on his opinion than on any research or data (Dr. Tran Bong Son, personal communication,2002), it is informative to look at what he writes because his name and books are widely known within Vietnam and have a great influence on what the general population, including medical professionals and policy makers, believe to be the truth about homosexuality in Vietnamese society. An
example
of
Dr. Son’s
views
can be
seen in a
Vietnamese
language
HIV
prevention
brochure that
was
published
by
an international
non-governmental
organization(NGO)
and
that
lists Dr.
Son
both
as
an advisor
and
as the
author
of
several
references
(CARE International,
2001).
The
brochure describes
two
kinds
of homosexual
men
in Vietnam:
the
that,
or “true,” kind
that
is inherently
homosexual
and
is “very
rare”and
the
gia,
or “fake,” kind
that
has
been
lured
by
fashion
or
experimentation
into
trying
homosexuality
and
who
will
eventually
return
to
a
heterosexual
lifestyle. In a recent newspaper article about homosexuality, a physicianin the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Education was quoted as saying that“ you can conclude that the majority of young homosexuals are gia.” (Tien, 2002).The state-controlled media in Vietnam occasionally carry reports on homosexuality.These reports often cite facts from international research but always include statements that reveal a negative bias against homosexuals. For example, one recent magazine article stated, “There is no scientific basis to conclude that homosexuality is an illness. But it is clear that these people are mentally confused” (Tiep Thi & GiaDinh, 2003).The government of Vietnam currently has a “social evils” campaign to crackdown on prostitution and drug use, both of which are associated with HIV infection. Although one press report in 2002 stated that the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs was calling for homosexuality to be labeled as a social evil (DeutschePresse-Agentur, 2002), the government has not publicly voiced any official policytoward homosexuality or MSM... (sections of this report were omitted here. See http://depts.washington.edu/hsedp/profile/pdfs/colby1.pdf for full text.) ...The best way to approach HIV prevention may be different in Saigon and Hanoi and will need to be guided by the local situation. Although MSM may be most easily noticed in the big cities, it should not be assumed that they do not exist in Vietnam’s medium-sized cities, many of which have populations in the hundreds of thousands and several of which lie on the ocean and have sizable domestic and international tourist trades. More information is needed on MSM in these areas, which may warrant local prevention programs of their own. Although there is a need for more research and information about MSM in Vietnam, it has to be acknowledged that increased attention also carries the risk of a negative reaction. If the government takes more notice of MSM in society, there is no guarantee that its response will not be harmful with stigmatization or overt persecution rather than constructive with education and support. Within the past year the two locations in Ho Chi Minh City that most openly catered to homosexual men, one disco and one sauna, have both been closed by the government. Although the same fate befalls many nongay-identified venues in the city and the government has not released any official policy toward MSM or homosexuality, it is entirely possible that a bias against homosexuals is already showing in official actions. Increased
awareness about MSM may bring a backlash
of negative
reaction.
However,
inaction also
carries the
almost
certain risk
of increased
HIV
infections
and deaths
from
AIDS
in the
not too distant
future.Although
there
is plenty of
room for
more research
into
the situation
of MSM
in Vietnam,
it is
already clear
that significant
populations
of MSM exist
in
the
major cities and
that their
behavior
puts them
at
high risk for
HIV infection.
With their
low
perception of
that
risk, MSM currently
have
no reason
to change
their behavior.
A program employing
peer educators
could easily
reach a
large
number
of MSM
and help them
to better
understand
their
risk for
acquiring
HIV.
With
an improved
comprehension of
that
risk, MSM
in
Vietnam would
be better
motivated
and
equipped
to protect
themselves
from HIV.
July 7, 2004 7 A
novel about the lives of gay men set in Viet Nam that
has taken readers by surprise has now been made into a TV series.
Mot The Gioi Khong Co Dan Ba (A World Without Women) by former
crime journalist Bui Anh Tan, which won first prize in the For
The Nation’s Peace and Security writing competition 2002,
is being presented in a 10-episode format, as part of the
Viet Nam Television’s Crime Police series. |
