Vietnam: Gay rights group tackles insensitive medical care

Doctors believed, for example, that becoming a homosexual was a fashion statement. They teased gay patients, and criticised anal sex despite training on gay issues, the survey revealed.

via VietNamNet

Nguyen Thanh Trung (not his real name), a gay man who lives in Ha Noi, was very upset by the way doctors discriminated against him when he was undergoing an anal health test in one of the city's many health clinics.

"The doctor told me to my face that having sex with men is not a natural act and asked me why I did it," Trung recalled.

"I was so upset that I left the clinic and will never return," he said.


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[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

I am gay.

via Look At Vietnam

Nguyen Van Trung, 35, is as excited as a teenager going to his or her first party.

But the excitement is tinged with some nervous bravado, because Trung’s coming out party seeks to increase public tolerance toward the gay community in Vietnam.

A group of 100 gay activists is planning to raise awareness and visibility by wearing pink T-shirts proclaiming, "I am gay." They will walk together on the sidewalks in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, probably on the upcoming Valentine’s Day, Trung said.

“This will be the first time such an activity has been organized by the gay community in Vietnam,” said Trung, member of a HCMC voluntary group that seeks to advise men who have sex with men (MSM) on safe sex and HIV-related knowledge.

“I only hope that by doing so, the public will be more tolerant of people like us since we do no harm to the society.”

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[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

"Male Sexuality in Vietnam: The Case of Male-to-Male Sex"

[Note - yet another reason why we need to have rectal microbicides for MSM in the developing world!]

VIETNAM:
"Male Sexuality in Vietnam: The Case of Male-to-Male Sex" Sexual Health Vol. 5; No. 1: P. 83-88 (02..08)::Bao Ngoc Vu; Philippe Girault; Binh Van Do; Donn Colby; Lien Thi Bich Tran

The authors collected qualitative information about the contexts and meanings of sex and relationships between men in Ho Chi Minh City with the goal of implementing "effective behavior change interventions for men who have sex with men."

Participants were men age 18 or older who had had sex with another man in the previous 12 months. The researchers conducted individual interviews as well as focus groups.

The research revealed that "sex between men exists and is associated with two common descriptors in Vietnam." These are "bong lo" for those men who are feminized in public and "bong kin" for men who are not and often are married. For both groups of men, the researchers noted "a trade-off between sexual pleasure and risk. Condoms may not be used, particularly when having sex with a partner who was considered to be good looking or perceived as 'clean.'"

The authors concluded that their study "highlights the need for HIV prevention programs which address issues of sexual meaning in male-to-male sexual relationships."