Gay Life Is Persecuted and Condemned in Vietnam

Vietnam is about to enter a new height in human right violation by condemning gays, lesbians, and transexuals' freedom of expression. The March 9 1999 issues of the Cong An Xa Hoi (Social Policing) published the article "The Gioi Pe-De va Nhung Ket Cuc (The Gay Life Style and Consequences) by Dang Hong Giang condemning homosexuality. He quoted the Ministry of Education stating that homosexuality is a problem with no known cure which spreads communicable diseases, causes mental illness, and creates emotional havocs; stated that the Vietnamese culture and society cannot accept homosexuality; called for strict laws prohibiting gay marriage; and warned each person and their family of being on the watch for this plague.

The South China Morning Post on Saturday May 23 1998 contributed by DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR in Hanoi reported: Government officials have broken up the country's first known lesbian marriage and extracted a promise from the lovers they will never live together. Twenty officials from various Communist Party groups met the couple for three hours at their home in the Mekong Delta town of Vinh Long. They were acting on instructions of the Justice Ministry in Hanoi "to put an end to the marriage", the Thanh Nien newspaper reported. It is unclear what kind of persuasion was used to get the women's agreement or what punishment they could face if they change their minds, but they signed a document promising not to live together, the justice official said. This issue was raised at the most recent session of the National Assembly during debate on amendments to the marriage law.

In 1997, The Lao Dong Newspaper launched a virulent critique of a marriage between two men in Ho Chi Minh City as having a lavish ceremony held in a big Saigon hotel, provoking an avalanche of protests from residents when other homosexual marriages in Vietnam have taken place in discrete ceremonies since it is a taboo. It should be publicly condemned - Public opinion does not support this - said Nguyen Thi Thuong, vice-director of the city's state-run Consulting Center for Love, Marriage and Families. The police are reported as saying that no laws exist which would enable them to punish the happy couple. The honeymooners could not be reached for comment.

Legal or not is of no consequence, the Communist has a legacy of persecution of anyone not conforming to the communist code of behavior. Since the fall of SaiGon, human rights violations in Vietnam escalated to countless incidents. Arrests are made without charges and trials. Prisoners of consciences include Buddhist monks and Catholic priests. In the 1997 Amnesty International Report, it is stated that "strict state control of the media, continuing restrictions on freedom of expression and lack of official information made it difficult to obtain details of human rights violations."

Not to forget history, Nguyen Chi Thien, author of the poetry collection Hoa Dia Nguc ("The Flowers of Hell") and a 27-year veteran of the Vietnamese prison system, in her address to the House Committee on International Relations on November 8 1995 stated: "Millions of people also lost their lives in the so-called war to liberate the south. In actually, this "war of liberation" was nothing more than a struggle to impose Communism, or its Marxist-Leninist brand, on the whole of Vietnam as a stepping stone to the domination of the rest of Southeast Asia. After the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, hundreds of thousands of people went to fill up the Vietnamese Gulag. There was no need for a blood bath since that would be too obvious. Instead, under the new regime, hundreds of thousands of people died of hunger and cold or simply died without notice in godforsaken corners of the jungle."

Another recent human rights violation shows history is repeating itself. In March 15 1999, Representative Edward R. Royce wrote to the ambassador Douglas B. PETERSON on behalf of Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang, a respected geophysicist and a freedom activist, for being arrested speaking out the cause of democracy and human rights in Vietnam. Sidney Jones, Asia director of Human Rights Watch stated: "Nguyen Thanh Giang's arrest is an assault on freedom of expression, and he should be immediately and unconditionally released."

The Vietnamese family values as dictated by confucianism and catholicism make it painfully impossible for gay and lesbians in Vietnam to live normal lives. On top of these social and religious pressures, increasing attacks of gays and lesbians by state run media and mental persecutions by the state police will cause slow deaths to gays and lesbians in Vietnam.

By Tien Nguyen, Lam Tran, and Tom Le July 7, 1999 San Francisco