Vietnam's Gay Marriage Ban Lifted; Becomes The First Southeast Asian Country To Do So!

Southeast Asia has become the newest region to uplift gay rights, specifically in Vietnam where the government has abolished a ban on same-sex marriage last year. However, according to Time, bullying and discrimination are still a problem that the LGBT community in the country are facing.

Gay couples in Vietnam are now planning their wedding ceremonies after the law came into force to abolish the ban that removed a legal prohibition on marriages between people of the same sex last New Year's Day 2015.

The said country is the first one to be open about such rights from Southeast Asia, a region where most countries, if not all, are opposing to said rights.

Medical doctor Thuan Nguyen is excited to finally tie the knot with his boyfriend of two years "I am ready to have a wedding," Nguyen told Bloomberg. "Many, many young people in love are optimistic about the acceptance of gay weddings."

However, even though the unity is now allowed, reports still stay that bullying and discrimination are still rampant in the country. Insults, intimidation, and reports of assault are still experienced by young LGBT people in schools, in a story by Than Nien News published just right after the anniversary of the lifting of the ban.

"When they beat me, they insulted my parents names for having a gay son," Le Minh Triet, a student in Vietnam, said. "Nobody helped me."

UNESCO has reported last year on bullying and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in Asia-Pacific and they found out that LGBT students in Vietnam are exposed to overwhelming stigma in schools. In addition, there are also students who reported being victimized by school staff.

The said ban on gay marriage in Vietnam, however, have not yet granted full recognition to the unions, hence spouses are not yet fully protected in the legal sense.