Old Goa is the former capital of the Portuguese colony on India’s west coast. Once a thriving city, it’s only remains are numerous impressive churches and cathedrals that are World Heritage Monuments. Panaji is the modern capital of Goa, a city of 100,000 with busy a shipping port in nearby Vasco da Gama town and
Afghanistan
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei
Burma
Cambodia
China
East Timor
Georgia
Guam
Indonesia – Sumatra – Medan City
Medan city is the capitol of Sumatra and Indonesia’s third largest city with about 2 million people. Although it has few attractive tourist sites it is a bustling commercial city with international companies and countless mom-and-pop shops. The two most handsome buildings in town are the great Raya Mosque and the former sultan’s palace, now
Gay Philippines: Traumatic History and Dramatic Queens
Intro: The Philippines is a widely diverse culture spread across hundreds of islands which include high tech cities and primitive jungle tribes. In central Cebu, a small but sufficient gay community thrives and also displays its diversity, from preppies to drag queens. Nearby is the small island of Leyte steeped in history marking Mac Arthur’s
Thailand – Ko Samui, Kwai. Thai Gulf
Ko Samui Island (photos 1-9) is Thailand’s third largest island, with an area of 228.7 km2 and a population of over 50,000 (2008). It is rich with natural resources, white sandy beaches, coral reefs and coconut trees. Bridge at River Kwai (photos 10-17) commemorates the 92,000 civilians and prisoners of war, including a number of
Vietnam – Hoi An
Hoi An is a charming coastal city with much traditional architecture and narrow pedestrian streets. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site with its pagodas, antique houses and museums. Artisans turn out paintings, carvings and lots of clothing, rain or shine, flooding or dry. Outside the city is the My Son ancient kingdom
Bangladesh – Cox’s Bazar
Cox’s Bazar is Bangladesh’s beach resort town on the southeast coast near Burma. Getting there by bus from Chittagong is another colorful adventure of street life and risky vehicle drivers. Photos 1-23 reveal the vibrant social and commercial life along the main highway, including military practice maneuvers with soldiers sporting live-ammunition machine guns (photo 9).
India – Mysore Palace and City
Mysore is a medium-sized city of about 750,000 people. Before India became independent from England, the ‘state’ of Mysore was ruled by the wealthy Maharaja of the Wodeyar dynasty whose stunning and immense Mysore Palace is now a museum. His descendant family still live in relative splendor in a private wing of the palace (photo
Indonesia – Sumatra – Road Scenes
Along the rural roads of Sumatra life in many forms happens every day of every year, from small children carrying their bookbags from school to the local coffin maker displaying his wares. Markets, motorbikes, monuments… and more. Read the stories about gay Indonesia
Gay Philippines: Manila and the ILGA Conference
Manila, Philippines is one of the few major Asian cities with an overt gay scene that openly contradicts the conservative culture of the country. Despite a homophobic environment that is critical and hostile to queer citizens a lively LGBT community thrives, and it vigorously leans into the face of the political, religious and legal establishment.
Gay Taiwan: Loving and Living Gay in Taiwan-The Up Side (Part 1)
Intro: Taiwan is an exciting Chinese experiment in true democracy. In great contrast to the repression in communist mainland China, lesbigay citizens enjoy much freedom of expression and activity. Gay life is busy, colorful and politically alive,
Thailand – Bangkok Gay Festival 1999
Thailand is one of the most strongly Buddhist countries in the world. The national religion is Theravada Buddhism which is practiced by more than 95% of all Thais. This partially accounts for the high tolerance level of gay life in Bangkok. Buddhism does not overtly condemn homosexuality as do Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Gay Bangkok
Vietnam – Nha Trang
Nha Trang has some of the best beaches in Vietnam. The clear turquoise water and endless sand along with countless informal restaurants and hotels make this city of 320,000 a relaxing traveler’s rest stop (except in November and December). About 100 km south of Nah Trang are the ancient Po Klaung Garai Towers (first five
Bangladesh – Faces (1)
The face of Bangladesh is a great portrait of human beauty, of hardship, youth and aging, restraint and color, urban and rural, manual labor and spontaneous friendliness and curiosity. Most of these images are taken from other Bangladesh photo galleries.
Gay China 1998
A cruise down the murky waters of the Yangzte River led to the city of Wuhan where the gay scene is also murky. But in Beijing and Shanghai gays are more prosperous and homosexuality is coming out with the help of media stories and the Internet.
India – Country Life
Driving through rural India offers a wide spectrum of poor and simple life, manual labor, friendly people, slow transportation and even a new airport near Hospet, which accommodates visitors to the great ruins of Hampi and to the huge steel plant adjacent to the airport. This gallery takes us through the areas of Colva in
Indonesia – Bali – Kuta Beach
Indonesia – lifeguard try-outs on Kuta Beach enliven an already busy social gathering place for natives and visitors. not far from the Hard Rock Hotel south of Legian Beach. (My insincere apologies for the many repetitive photos of lifeguards!) Read the stories about gay Indonesia
The Silence of History: Leyte, Philippines
Intro: A reverential visit to one of World War II’s most haunting and impressive sites. Also see: Gay Philippines Stories Gay Philippines News & Reports 2001 to present Gay Philippines Photo Galleries By Richard Ammon September 1998 The most haunting aspect of history is the echoing silence that enfolds epic events long after
Gay Taiwan: Loving and Living Gay in Taiwan-The Difficult Side (Part 2)
Despite much freedom of expression, gay life in Taiwan is circumscribed by strong cultural traditions, legal shortcomings, HIV illness and problematic cross-cultural dating.
Thailand – World AIDS Day Bangkok Dec ’06
To view World Aids Day 2006 Bangkok gallery (not on GlobalGayz) – click here.
Vietnam – Hue City
Hue city is another cultural and historic gem of Vietnam. With 290,00 people the city is alive with commerce, tourism, ancient and modern buildings, ambitious citizens and painful war memories (now mostly out of mind). The major attractions now are not religious but historic. The huge Citadel (Imperial City), once the seat of emperors’ mightly
Gay Thailand 2017: Varieties of Life and Love
By Richard Ammon GlobalGayz.com November 2017 Fantasy Life As I wrote this story, Thailand was glued to a royal funeral ceremony via millions of TVs, radios and live in central Bangkok. For eight hours, since 0700 on a Saturday in November 2017, monks and ancient horns filled the solemn air with prayers and chants as
Gay India 2001-03: Many Faces, Secret Traditions and Bold New Times
Intro: Two academic commentaries and three interviews serve as a basic introduction to the vast and complex potpourri of cultures known as India. Gay India is one of the convoluted subcultures folded
into the intense tapestry of languages, customs, religions and secular traditions in this country of a billion people.
In parts one and two, guest authors discuss widespread male-male sexuality as an unspoken and unquestioned–and unlabeled–way of life integrated into family and village customs. The public–spoken or written–label of ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’ is questioned as a valid description of such men: traditional MSM does not necessarily mean today’s ‘queer’.
Following these academic commentaries are links to parts three and four: interviews with three important gay and lesbian leaders who give a more ‘flesh and blood’ feel for gay life that is ‘out’ and evident in modern India.
The final fifth section is a story about Calcutta’s first gay pride parade and a reflection of its extended meaning.
Lesbians in Thailand
Intro: Lesbians present a different scene than the men. More modest in their sexual expression, there are no lesbian saunas where women walk around in towels cruising each other, although there are lesbian bars. Various reasons have been offered to explain this difference, from men’s more predatory nature to feminist distaste for imitating male habits to women’s natural nurturing subjective demeanor versus men’s penchant for objectifying sex—or powerful social traditions that shape and limit women’s roles in society.
Gay Bangladesh
Guest writer Martin Forman opens a small window onto the sly, furtive and suspicious gay ‘scene’ in the city of Sylhet, Bangladesh. This is followed by a level-headed essay by Afsan Chowdury, a native author, who writes: “there are gays in our Bengali society, and there is no sense in suppressing and stifling it.”
Gay Guam
Far from the crowds of Asia and American lies tiny Guam in the western Pacific. Modern and historic, the island – and town of Tumon – is a miniature US state in many ways with its beachfront luxury hotels, glittery shopping malls, K-Mart, hetero strip joints and gay bars. But even these inventions don’t take away from the simple tropical beauty of the land. Jungled hills, countless palm-fringed beach coves and rural Chamorro villages make this a place of quiet beauty. Gay life is barely visible, laid back and comfortable.