Homosexuality Case

According to the American Psychological Association, the largest association of psychologists in the world, homosexuality is an enduring emotional, romantic and sexual attraction among people of the same gender. Homosexual is the general term referring to a person with homosexuality, however, usually used for a man sexually attracted to people of the same sex when lesbian is the term for a woman whose sexual orientation is expressed only towards women. Homosexuality, according to psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, does not cause any illness, mental disorder or emotional problems. It has also been proved not to attach with mental disorders or emotional or social problems.

In Vietnam, nowadays, homosexuality is no longer a rare phenomenon. However, it is not easy to notice homosexual people in Vietnam since most of them are trying to hide their homosexual orientation for fear of being discriminated. Many Vietnamese people have believed that homosexuality is no less than a disease. In their opinion, those with sexual feelings towards people of the same sex are abnormal, weird and degenerate. Some people even consider homosexuality as a social evil. The following contents will deal with four main parts to clarify if all those things are true about homosexuality: homosexuality throughout Vietnamese history; homosexuality in Vietnamese laws, arts, scientific researches and studies; the coming out of homosexuals along with "fomo" - an alleged trend in Vietnamese young people; and finally, Vietnamese society's attitudes towards homosexual people.

Homosexuals, including physiological males and females, have been in existence in Vietnam for a long time. However, there is very little information of homosexuality recorded throughout Vietnamese history. Referring to some records, in feudal society, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a few Vietnamese kings had male concubines. The twelfth Emperor of Nguyen Dynasty in the early twentieth century Emperor Khai Dinh was said to be impotent towards women and to have feelings only with men. Homosexuality is believed to become common in Vietnam during the French domination. Dr. Jacobus Sutor assumed that homosexuality in Vietnam was a behavior resulting from Chinese cultural influence. Also under the French domination, there were some famous people whose sexual orientation has been controversially questioned. Among them was Xuan Dieu, an eminent poet who was known as the king of love poems of Vietnam. To Hoai once wrote that: "Xuan Dieu loved me". The writer also revealed other truths about Xuan Dieu in his memoirs which convinced people that the famous poet is undoubtedly a homosexual. During the late 1960s, there were three lesbian bars and eighteen gay bars in Saigon. Homosexual nightclubs, saunas and coffee shops also existed in the city around that time. Lesbian marriages were also common in Saigon then. Marnais reported in his book that lesbianism could be found at all levels of Vietnamese society in the era. Lesbianism, according to him, was rife among prostitutes in Saigon, and organized homosexual activity revolved much around gay bars in the city. Under the Vietnam War, there were some reports of journalists showing traces of homosexual intercourse between the Vietcong during the long years of living in the forests and tunnels. Major General of Vietnam Intelligence Agent Pham Xuan An once mentioned that homosexuality did exist in Vietnam during the era, however, not on a large scale. Since late 1990s, homosexuality has no longer been a strange phenomenon in Vietnam. Same-sex marriages and coming-out cases occurred here and there in the country. As from 2000s, empathetic and positive attitudes, although in minority, has increased in the society. This could be considered as an unmistakable advance in the history of homosexuality in Vietnam. Nowadays, with the explosion of the Internet in Vietnam, forums and websites for homosexuals have been increasing in number.

In Vietnam, neither homosexual identity nor behaviors had ever been explicitly illegal. In the ancient legal codes of the Le Dynasty and the Nguyen Dynasty, the only provisions that might refer to deviant sexuality were the prohibition against men who wear feminine garments (Le Code, Article 640), and a prohibition of emasculation and eviration (Le Code, Article 305; Nguyen Code, Article 344). Homosexual activities seemed to have been punished only in few occasions when involving rape or adultery (which concentrated on the fact that one or both were getting married to other partners). In modern Vietnamese criminal law, homosexuality was not specifically referred to anywhere; however, the act of buying and selling sex in any form, which includes male prostitution, was prohibited. The State attitudes or guidelines for public opinion about homosexual behaviors were not mentioned in the Law on Marriage and Family issued in 1986, and homosexuality was not brought up in the Penal Code, either. Homoerotic behavior and intercourse are not against the law; however, Vietnamese authorities could prosecute homosexual people for crimes such as undermining the public. There were same-sex weddings held openly in Vietnam, but their marriage registration was denied because there was no law that allowed them to marry. Afterwards, Vietnamese National Assembly banned same-sex marriage in June 1998. Pursuant to the Law on Marriage and Family, people of the same gender are forbidden to get married (Article 10). Therefore, although homosexual relationships are not prohibited by law, same-sex marriage is not recognized by Vietnamese law or the government in any form. In 2002, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Welfare offered a proposal in which homosexuality should be listed in social evils, along with prostitution and drug use, which must be eradicated. It also proposed to arrest homosexual couples for their eccentric behaviors. However, no policy on homosexuality has been released since then. In the Decree of Redefining Gender issued in 2008, people without biological defects are not allowed to redefine their gender. Therefore, homosexuals with normal physiology, according to the law, are not allowed to undergo any sex reassignment surgery. (The Decree of Redefining Gender, Article 4.) Homosexuality is not forbidden in literature; however, writers usually avoid writing it. There are not many art works of this topic. Some outstanding works are Xuan Dieu's poems such as Male Love, Ocean and You Are Gone. A World without Women published in 2008 is the first Vietnamese novel writing about homosexuals. Some other works of this topic are Gay - an Autobiography of a Homosexual, The Wrong Gender and I Am Sorry for Loving a Man. The topic of homosexuality has also adapted for several movies and films. However, homosexual people appeared on screen as those with extra-effeminate