New Year’s Event Spotlights Sexual Orientation Issues

By VIOLET CHO

RANONG — Burmese lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) migrant worker activists in Ranong used the New Year to organize a festival with the aim of fighting homophobia and raising issues related to LGBT rights through entertainment.

The festival was held on Monday and showcased traditional Burmese drama and dance with a fashion show and other modern performance forms. They also encouraged the broader community to participate through a “model boy” contest. The event combined traditional dancing with modern music to keep the audience of more than 1,000 people entertained.

The concert was organized by Rainbow, the first and only Burmese LGBT migrant organization in Thailand.

“It is a good chance for us to raise issues about LGBT rights through the wave of infotainment and edutainment,” said Htike Htike, the facilitator of Rainbow. “We have faced discrimination by the Burmese community, such as people telling us we lack ability, but then people come and see what we have done and they are smiling when they leave, which gives us a lot of encouragement.”

All of the organizers of the festival were Burmese LGBTs who came to Ranong for work and got involved with Rainbow. Rainbow was formed in 2006 and currently has almost 30 members, all of whom are LGBT.

As well as organizing performances, Rainbow provides training about LGBT rights and income generation for LGBT migrants, and raises awareness about HIV/AIDS. This is the third time Rainbow has organized a public festival.

“Every time people talk about gays, they think we have the lowest status. They think we are all hairdressers or betel nut sellers or natgadaw [“spirit wives” who participate in ritual marriages at nat shrines]. The space of gay people is really limited and people don’t recognize our power and creativity, so we need to organize ourselves and show what we can do,” said Htike Htike.

Burmese LGBT migrants routinely face discrimination from the Burmese community, such as sexual harassment and a lack of acceptance, sometimes from their own families.

“I have been looked down upon a lot as a lesbian. People think we are bad and carry diseases, so we get ignored and people stay away from us. It is lonely. But after I joined Rainbow and we did performances, I realized that people can understand me more and respect me more as a person,” said Su Su, the only lesbian member of Rainbow.

“Gay and lesbians need to work together and let people know that we are human beings,” she added.