Out & About

It was a dream come true. Yours truly finally came out as a lesbian - an honorary one, that is - during last week's regional conference of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) in Chiang Mai. All in all, a fun four days to make new alliances and personal connections.

The conference also made history with the first ever Pride parade in Chiang Mai. Marching down the famous Night Bazaar, the colourful Lanna-themed procession proved a big hit with both locals and foreign shoppers, so much so that we managed to "recruit" two young English tourists who boisterously joined the march. (Did someone say "outreach programme"?)

Represented at the parade and the conference were many countries across Asia and beyond. It was a great pleasure to meet new friends like Karen, a blond transgender from Armenia with a doctoral degree in international ecological law and a soft spot for Thai men. But I was most excited by finally meeting with old and new Thai friends whom I hope to work with for many years to come.

On the opening day, our greatest ally in the National Human Rights Commission, Naiyana Supapung, came to speak about the commission's fruitful collaborations with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups on human rights issues such as the Sor Dor 43 military document and the Constitution. Her presence was a reminder of how lucky Thai LGBTs have been in the past six years. At the same time, it was also a time to fear the unknown as her term will soon come to an end.

To a standing ovation Vitit Muntarbhorn, another national champion of Thai LGBT rights, expounded on the Yogyakarta Principles - the document on how to apply international human rights laws in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity, which was developed by a panel of experts co-chaired by Prof Vithit himself. (See www.yogyakarta

principles.org.)

It would be impossible to mention all the presentations that followed, but we were informed of many positive - and some negative - developments in Asia. Where there's still need for cross-border collaboration, there were efforts to set up networks for mutual support and idea exchange - such as a working group to advocate the decriminalization of sodomy laws in ex-British colonies or a new lesbian coalition and a transgender network. Most notable was the initiative from an Indonesian activist to form a caucus to focus on LGBT youth.

After a hard day's work, a round table chat was dutifully convened among a dozen Thai participants at a lesbian-owned restaurant. For the first time, yours truly was surrounded by the full rainbow of gays, lesbians, Toms, Dees, male-to-female and female-to-male transgenders. Whatever the colours, we were comfortable among each other being ourselves.

Many thanks to ILGA for this unique opportunity and hopefully there will be more in the future. Apart from strategizing our future activities together, where else can a gay man get answers to his itching questions about lesbian sex?

AYOR