While Pride Month is around the edge in Thailand, Burmese LGBTQ individuals live under the Tatmadaw’s darkness, waiting for help from their Thai counterparts.
” Even if Thailand and Myanmar are close neighbours, LGBTQ lives are totally different”, said Saw Zin Maung Soe, founder of the Civil Authorize Negotiate Organisation ( Can- Myanmar ) and chair of the Consultants Board.
There has been reduced tolerance for LGBTQ people in Myanmar, he said. The group is prone to discrimination, and the position grew worse after the revolt on Feb 1, 2021, he said, adding Gay people are targeted for misuse.
A statement from the Ministry of Women Youths and Children Affairs, under Myanmar’s dark National Unity Government, which opposes the coup, said LGBTQ individuals participated in the demonstrations against Tatmadaw, and some faced intense human rights violations.
According to the report, 62 % of LGBTQ activists were arrested or abducted, 24 % in hiding, 5 % were seriously injured and 9 % reported dead.
Since the coup, prejudice against Burmese LGBTQ people has gotten worse, according to a report from the Myanmar LGBTQIAs Human Rights Watch Forum called” Rainbow Amid the Storm: Exposing the Harse Realities of LGBTQIAs in Post-Coup Myanmar.”
From February 2021 to February next year, the group interviewed 210 Gay individuals from 14 districts in four different parts of Myanmar.
It discovered that the most discriminatory sectors were found in the family sector ( 53 % ), followed by the economic sector ( 36 % ), the healthcare sector ( 36 % ), the administrative sector ( 33.7 % ), the social sector ( 33 % ), the public sector ( 31 % ), and the education sector ( 14 % ).
It also reported that 32 % of them faced significant violations of human rights, like as arbitrary detention, rape, murder, sexual harassment, unlawful taxation and extrajudicial murders.
Additionally, it discovered that those serious circumstances were more prevalent in the conflict-affected regions, such as the Region and Magway locations.
Voice from Region
Gus, 32, an Transgender activist who aids those in the Sagaing area of Myanmar, reported to the Bangkok Post that many of her Gay friends had their photographs taken dressed and their pictures posted on social media and were arrested and punished.
Some were also dressed up in the street to show off, she claimed.
She claimed that if transwomen’s heads were seen on the road, the military had occasionally clean them and make them wear men’s clothing.
One of my transwoman companions was subjected to torture when her breast implant scar was pressed against an electric iron. After being arrested, some of my queer companions were abused with a drink inserted in the lower part, she continued.
She claimed that numerous transgender people enlisted in the weight organizations against the Tatmadaw. They also encountered a problem because those rebels live in the forest and because transgender people need hormonal treatment to keep their physical health.
She explained that when they are not in a town, it is difficult for them to get hormone assistance.
She claimed that LGBTQ people who reside in remote places like Sagaing also have access to humanitarian aid because it is primarily distributed along the Thai-Myanmar border, quite as Thailand’s Mae Sot or Chiang Mai, and that Sagaing, which is 800 kilometers away from Chiang Mai, is only partially served by the support.
When asked how Thailand had assistance Myanmar’s Gay population, she said Thai LGBTQ individuals should follow their needs.
We are resentful of the Gay people who live freely in Thailand. Do not forget us in Myanmar, please. For the Thai authorities, please do not operate with the Tatmadaw”, she said.
Shrinking political place
Most of Myanmar’s LGBTQ people rely on Organizations for health care, according to Saw Zin Maung Soe. Nevertheless, some NGOs have been closed due to the political turmoil after the revolution, he said, adding some have relocated to other countries, including his company, which is now located in Thailand.
He claimed that the life of Myanmar’s Gay groups have been impacted by the lack of NGO support, particularly for those who require medical assistance, such as those seeking transgender and HIV treatment.
Some of them remain on the fringes, where travel to cities is weak, he added.
” Many businesses closed down and many]LGBTQ people ] turned to sex work, which may cause widespread HIV infection”, he said.
” Besides, many trans]people ] in our country do not know how to take hormones properly”, he added. ” So, by allowing them to buy]hormones ] themselves, their lives will be at risk”.
Many of them, including himself, had tragic experiences from the combat, he said, despite the fact that many of them were able to escape to Thailand via both legal and illegal means.
He claimed he no longer desires to speak gunfire-like lights. He claimed that the Thai authorities and those dressed in military uniform resemble the Myanmar war, and that they also frighten him.
” Even if I enter Thailand legally and have all the necessary documents ready… He claimed that the Thai authorities “reminds me of the Myanmar defense” and that he is still afraid of them.
He added that some LGBTQ individuals who emigrated from Myanmar to Thailand did not bring legal paperwork, which makes it difficult for them to get Thai security, such as hormonal support or viral medications.
The lack of documents may also limit access to employment.
” Another barrier is language. They do not know where to turn for assistance through the complicated process to get a job, he continued, despite having all the necessary documents.
Restore the Rainbow
Saw Zin Maung Soe stated that Thailand has been at the forefront of Asean’s promotion of LGBTQ rights, particularly after the marriage equality bill was first read and passed by parliament. Thailand has been playing a significant role in LGBTQ healthcare, particularly in terms of national support for pre- and post-exposure prevention, systematic hormonal support, and anti-HIV medications, he continued.
Therefore, while restoring peace in Myanmar, Thai LGBTQ civil society organisations, the Thai government and Myanmar LGBTQ CSOs should collaborate to supply medical products to those in need in Myanmar, he said.
He added that Thai authorities should simplify the legal process so that LGBTQ people can access immigration welfare programs.
According to Adisara Darakulratsamee, Project Manager of Mae Sot Pride, her organization has been collaborating with Burmese LGBTQ people in Mae Sot for a while, and the current situation makes it difficult for them to survive.
Some transwomen reported being forced to shave their hair, dress like a soldier and enlist in the military. Even if some of them escape to Thailand, they are still traumatised by the incident”, she said.
She claimed that her organization has started a cosmetics donation campaign for Myanmar’s LGBTQ people during the wartime, where many stores are closed and many have financial issues.
The campaign will continue until the end of July, and Myanmar’s LGBTQ people who have received donated cosmetics from the Mae Sot refugee camp and across the border will receive them gradually.
Although it is a simple gesture, having cosmetics is important to their soul, she said. Cosmostics will assist them in expressing their creativity through beauty, and it may be a source of comfort during a difficult time, she said.
” Gender should be taken into account when delivering humanitarian assistance. Cosmetics and small items like that can be used as humanitarian aid in this trying time, she continued.
Saw Zin Maung Soe