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Vol 1. No 4. January, 1998
Major Boost for Lesbian Rights
Jennifer Bliss
Bangkok - Thailand's national lesbian group Anjaree took a bold step forward last month when it held its first ever public conference on lesbian rights. After more than a decade of quietly working towards greater acceptance of lesbians in Thai society, Anjaree hosted a talkfest on "The Rights of Lesbians and the Role of Academics and the Media" at Bangkok's Siam City Hotel on Dec 13.
Placing lesbian rights in the broader context of human rights, Anjaree organiser Anjana Suwannanond explained: "Human rights are not special rights. It is the right of everyone to be alive, to have a personal life, intimacy, to choose where they live and what work they do. This sounds very simple, but when there is discrimination, people make exceptions, like for gays and lesbians, when they have the same rights as everyone else."
Formed 11 years ago at a time when gay men in Thailand were beginning to gain wider public approval, Anjaree today has 500 members nationwide and publishes a bimonthly Thai-language newsletter.
"The time is ripe for us to reveal ourselves to society," said Anjana.
Prominent academics and NGO representatives, including Somchai Homla-or, president of the Union of Civil Liberties, attended the conference which was sponsored by German human rights group Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Analysing Thai society's antagonism towards lesbians, Thammasat University political science lecturer Chalidaporn Songsamphan pointed out that lesbians, unlike gay men, are seen as a threat to patriarchal society.
The concept of "compulsory heterosexuality", she said, resulted in homosexuals, both men and women, being "marginalised and pushed into the closet," the Bangkok Post reported.
In an interview with Pink Ink, Anjaree organiser Anjana added that some people use the myth of homosexuality as mental illness to violate our rights. She cited the example of Rajabhat Institute's attempt last year to ban gays and lesbians from enrolling in its teaching colleges.
"Attitudes like that just show that they have not read a psychology textbook published in the last 25 years," she said. Anjaree was instrumental in overturning the national teachers' college ban. "It has gone beyond the concept of lesbian rights. It's about creating a more egalitarian society. I hope the work of Anjaree will continue in this way."
Conference-goers were privileged to witness what may have been the first lesbian theatrical performance in Thailand. The 20-minute skit, specially written and presented for the conference by professional theatre practitioners, involved a dialogue about the consequences of non-acceptance between a mother and her dead lesbian daughter.
While expressing disappointment at most of the Thai print media's reporting of the conference - "They just didn't get it," said Anjana - some reporters have been "active and positive in reporting the discussion." she said.
"I hope that in future they will consider the difference between fact and opinion. Opinions are debatable; facts are not," she said, referring to the practice of quoting so-called experts on homosexuality such as psychiatrists.
The conference has been hailed as a milestone in the struggle for lesbian rights in Thailand, but there's still a long way to go in overcoming ignorance and prejudice, said Anjana. "We would like to see more discussion, particularly in academic circles, of the other aspects of the debate apart from the mental disorder issue. It's time to move beyond the kindergarten level."
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