Nguyen Huong Giang, with her beauty and intelligence, shines at Miss International Queen 2018 (Photo: Dep magazine/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Nguyen Huong Giang, a Vietnamese transgender woman, on March 9won Miss International Queen 2018 - the world’s largest transgender pageant.
Giangwas happy with the victory, as was the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community as it marked a remarkablestep in their endeavors to earn social acceptance in Vietnam.
“My triumph comes at a time when thegovernment is considering legally recognising sex reassignment. I hope theGovernment will soon do this to ensure the rights of the LGBT community,” shetold the Vietnam News Agency (VNA).
Invisible, alonestruggle
Justa decade ago, homosexuality was still something many Vietnamese people didn’tunderstand.
Theythought homosexuality was a “disease” or associated with social vices such asmurder, robbery and theft, as the media then demonised the LGBT community.
“WhenI decided to go through with sex reassignment surgery, I faced severeobjections from my family, relatives and friends,” Huong Giang said.
“Ihad to go through that alone, with no one beside me, and I had to be strong toget what I have today. There was a time I thought I was going to die.”
Asurvey on LGBT youth conducted in 2015 by Save the Children and the Instituteof Social & Medical Studies showed that schools in Vietnam remained hostilefor LGBT students as 58.3 percent of them were bullied or harassed by theirpeers and 23 percent said that their teachers and school staff also took partin the harassment.
Meanwhile,according to the 2016 study titled “Is it because I am LGBT” carried out by theUN Development Programme in Vietnam, about 30 percent of 2,363 respondents from63 localities said that they had been denied a job for being LGBT, and 40percent encountered negative comments and foul acts.
“Atschool, peers and teaching staff often teased me or made fun of me, as well asspread rumours about me,” Le Cong Thang recalled.
Thangknew he was gay at a very young age.
(Photo by courtesy of Le Cong Thang) “Inmy previous workplace, my co-workers often laughed at my sexuality and sexualorientation behind my back,” he said. “They made it hard for me to finish workon time and spread rumours as well.”
Heis working for a big company in Hanoi.
“I’mnot the only one, many others in the community face the same struggle.”
“Mostof them are offended by their parents and relatives, bullied by their peers andslandered by their co-workers.”
Visible, initialwins
In2008, the Information Connecting and Sharing (ICS) Centre was set up, becomingthe first LGBT civil-society organisation working on LGBT rights.
Itwas followed by the Institute for Studies of Society, Economics, andEnvironment (iSEE), the Centre for Creative Initiatives in Health andPopulation (CCIHP), and the Centre for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender,Family, Women and Adolescents (CSAGA).
Theirpurpose was to support LGBT persons, giving the public, the media and theGovernment and policymakers a better understanding of LGBT people and thechallenges facing them.
Variousdiscussions have been held, many surveys conducted, and activities launched tomake LGBT people’s presence known in society.
TheiSEE, with support from Oxfam, implemented a project aiming to eliminatesocietal discrimination against LGBT people in Vietnam.
Oneof the first activities of the project was a training programme to update themedia with knowledge on the LGBT community held in Ha Long Bay, the northernprovince of Quang Ninh in 2009.
Inlate November 2009, iSEE and ICS Centre held a series of events onhomosexuality. From November 27-29, an exhibition took place at the Ho Chi MinhCity Youth Union’s Cultural House, showcasing 56 paintings and photos,depicting homosexual people’s desire to come out and integrate into thecommunity.
“Thisexhibition is one among numerous activities making society understand moreabout the LGBT community. Therefore, everyone can share and open their heartsto LGBT persons, so LGBT persons can open their hearts to others as well,” saidiSEE Director Le Quang Binh.
OnFebruary 25, 2011, the Vietnamese film on lesbians titled “Duong nao di toibien” (Which Way To The Sea) was screened at the Hanoi Cinematheque.
Producedby CSAGA under the assistance of the Swedish Embassy in Vietnam, the 35-minutedocumentary features the lives of five lesbian couples who represent lesbiancommunities in three regions in Vietnam and explores how Vietnamese women copeafter coming out. It finishes with the small but simple dreams of lesbian couplesthat are sometimes difficult to fulfil, such as wearing a wedding dress, owninga house, or simply earning a stable income.
Manynon-LGBT people raised their voice to support the LGBT community and theirrights.
Young people shout "Yes, I do" to show support for the LGBT community at an event held by iSEE and ICS (Photo: VNA) Ina report sent to the Ministry of Justice in 2013, Deputy Health Minister NguyenViet Tien affirmed: “In the angle of human rights, homosexuals also have theright to live, eat, wear, love and be loved and pursue happiness. In the angleof citizenship, they have the right to work, study, have medical examinationand treatment, register birth, death and marriage, and perform theirobligations with the State and society”.
Everyone deserves agood life
Thereis no accurate data on the number of LGBT people in Vietnam as many have yet tocome out, but a survey done by the iSEE indicated Vietnam is home to about 1.6million LGBT people.
LGBTpeople have also tried their best to be recognised by their families, friendsand the society.
Justmonths after sex reassignment surgery in Thailand, Huong Giang, born in Hanoiin 1991 as Nguyen Ngoc Hieu, registered to join Vietnam Idol 2012, a renownedsinging contest in Vietnam, and finished fourth.
Sincethen, Giang has never stopped trying to improve and become Miss InternationalQueen. Together with the crown, she also won Best Talent and Most PopularIntroductory Video awards.
“HuongGiang and many other transgender people working in all aspects of the societyare contributing to erasing gap, bringing their stories to the public to helpthe public understand and respect transgender people in particular, and theLGBT community in general,” said iSEE Director Luong Minh Ngoc.
The new Miss International Queen calls for the public not to look down on anyone as everyone has the right to be happy (Photo: Dep magazine/VNA) Whenasked what message about LGBT people she would like to deliver, the new MissInternational Queen stated that like everyone, LGBT people want to live a goodlife to contribute to the society’s development.
Shealso called for the public not to look down on anyone. “Everyone in the worldhas the right to be happy”.-VNA
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