Skip to main content
TrueQueer
NewsTravelCultureLifeOpinion Vibe CheckHistory WalksPlay
Quick exit
  • News
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Life
  • Opinion
  • Vibe Check
  • History Walks
  • Play
About Our Toolkit

Need to leave fast? Tap Quick exit or press Esc. The page goes blank and opens a weather search. It doesn’t erase your browser history, so use a private window for extra privacy.

Topic

#asia

25 stories

The Jakarta skyline at dusk, high-rise towers against a fading sky
Rights

Indonesia's Top Clerical Body Wants to Rename LGBTQ+ People — and Then Criminalise Them

The Indonesian Ulema Council is drafting a criminalisation bill and proposing to replace 'LGBT' with 'LGSP,' a coinage that files lesbian and gay people alongside sodomy and sexual abuse. It is a fatwa body, not a legislature — but the distinction is thinner than it looks.

Sep 15, 2026 By TrueQueer
Bangkok skyline and riverside at dusk near Asiatique The Riverfront
Culture

Thailand's First Pageant for Toms and Trans Men Wants to Redefine Who Gets the Crown

Tom Thailand 2026 gives masculine-presenting lesbians and trans men a national stage that pageant culture has never made room for — judged on character and conduct, not just appearance.

Sep 7, 2026 By TrueQueer
A busy street in an Indian city with colorful buildings and signage
Rights

India's Overhaul of Its Foreign Funding Law Could Give the Government Control of LGBTQ+ Groups' Assets

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Amendment Bill, headed for a vote in Parliament's monsoon session, would let a government-appointed authority seize a nonprofit's foreign-funded bank accounts and property the moment its registration lapses — with no court review first.

Aug 27, 2026 By TrueQueer
A busy street scene in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Rights

Bangladesh's Universities Have Expelled Dozens of Students Over Homosexuality Allegations This Year

A fresh case at the University of Dhaka is the latest in a documented pattern of surveillance, expulsion, and prosecution of students accused — often without evidence — of being gay.

Aug 26, 2026 By TrueQueer
A rainbow pride flag flying against a clear sky
Rights

Thailand's First Openly Gay Senator: Marriage Equality 'Totally Changed How the World Perceived Us'

At the WorldPride Human Rights Conference in Amsterdam, Senator Pornchai Witayalerdpan reflected on what a year and a half of marriage equality has done for Thailand's global standing — and what's still unfinished at home.

Aug 19, 2026 By TrueQueer
Exterior columns of a courthouse in India
Rights

Same-Sex Couples in India Are Fighting the Tax Code Because the Supreme Court Won't Touch Marriage

Two Bombay High Court petitions are asking India's tax authority to treat same-sex partners as spouses under a gift-tax exemption — a narrow, practical fight born out of the Supreme Court's 2023 refusal to legalize marriage equality.

Aug 16, 2026 By TrueQueer
The Seoul skyline at dusk with the city's mountains in the background
Rights

A Seoul Court Just Called a Same-Sex Relationship a 'De Facto Marriage.' Marriage Itself Still Isn't Legal.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that a same-sex couple formed a legally protectable domestic partnership, ordering a third party to pay damages for breaking it up. It's the latest step in a pattern: South Korean courts keep expanding protections for same-sex couples while marriage equality itself stays just out of reach.

Aug 12, 2026 By TrueQueer
A busy street scene in an Indonesian city at dusk
Rights

After Indonesia Labeled LGBTQ+ 'Culture' a National Threat, Rights Groups Document a Surge in Attacks

A presidential regulation grouping the 'promotion of LGBTQ culture' with nonmilitary threats like terrorism has given cover to a wave of campus policies and street violence, Human Rights Watch and local advocates say.

Aug 5, 2026 By TrueQueer
The Singapore skyline at dusk
News

Singapore Detains Three Self-Radicalized Teens Over Plots to Attack LGBTQ+ Students

Singapore's Internal Security Department disrupted three separate plots, including a planned knife attack on LGBTQ+ classmates, after peers and teachers recognized the warning signs and spoke up.

Jul 31, 2026 By TrueQueer
A rainbow flag held aloft against a sunny sky at Tokyo Rainbow Pride
Rights

Japan's Supreme Court Weighs Marriage Equality: What the Grand Bench Decision Could Mean

After a string of high court rulings that the same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional, Japan's Supreme Court has sent the question to its Grand Bench. Here's where things stand and why it matters far beyond Japan.

Jul 25, 2026 By TrueQueer
A person holding a transgender pride flag at an outdoor rally
Rights

After Marriage Equality, Thailand's Next Fight Returns to Parliament: Gender Recognition

Eighteen months after same-sex marriage took effect, a long-stalled Gender Recognition Bill is back in play as Thailand's parliament reconvenes — the reform trans Thais have been waiting years for.

Jul 21, 2026 By TrueQueer
The Supreme Court of India building in New Delhi.
Rights

India's Government Wants the Court to Rethink the Logic That Freed Gay Indians

New Delhi has asked the Supreme Court to revisit 'constitutional morality' — the doctrine behind the 2018 ruling that decriminalized gay sex. Nobody expects recriminalization, but activists warn the foundation for every future LGBTQ+ right could crack.

Jul 18, 2026 By TrueQueer
A courthouse facade with a rainbow flag, symbolizing legal advances for LGBTQ rights
World

Asia's Quiet Revolution: Why LGBTQ+ Rights Keep Winning in Courts, Not Parliaments

From Nepal's landmark marriage ruling to Japan's pending Supreme Court cases, LGBTQ+ progress across Asia is increasingly being written by judges — while legislatures stall.

Jul 12, 2026 By TrueQueer
A classroom in Japan with a rainbow flag on the desk.
Rights

Japan Just Approved Its First National Plan to Teach the Country About LGBTQ+ People

While Japan's courts wrestle with marriage equality, the cabinet has quietly adopted the country's first nationwide framework for LGBTQ+ awareness in schools, universities, and workplaces.

Jul 11, 2026 By TrueQueer
The Jakarta skyline at dusk, Indonesia
Rights

Indonesia's Campuses Turn on LGBT Students as Attacks Spike

A new Human Rights Watch report finds harassment of LGBT university students surged during Pride Month 2026 — with at least 10 public universities adopting discriminatory rules and a new criminal code deepening the danger.

Jul 8, 2026 By TrueQueer
Aerial view of the Boudhanath Stupa, a Buddhist temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, ringed by prayer flags
World

Nepal Makes Marriage Equality Binding — and Becomes the 40th Country to Recognize It

Two years after a provisional order opened the door, Nepal's Supreme Court has issued a binding directive requiring the government to fully recognize same-sex marriage. It is now a constitutional requirement, not a favor — and Nepal stands as the 40th country in the world to get there.

Jun 23, 2026 By TrueQueer
The facade of a courthouse with classical columns under a bright sky.
World

No Marriage, but a Win: The Philippine Supreme Court Says Same-Sex Couples Can Co-Own Their Home

In a landmark ruling, the Philippine Supreme Court held that same-sex partners who build a life and a home together have legal co-ownership of what they paid for — and pointedly told Congress it's long past time to legislate recognition.

Jun 21, 2026 By TrueQueer
A canal in Tokyo lined with cherry blossom trees in full bloom in spring.
Rights

Japan Has No Marriage Equality — but Its Local Registries Now Reach 90% of the Country

While Japan's same-sex marriage cases head to the Supreme Court, a quieter revolution has happened city by city: partnership registries now cover the vast majority of the population, even without a single national law.

Jun 20, 2026 By TrueQueer
Colorful Pride celebration with rainbow flags in Thailand
Pride Events

Khon Kaen Wants to Be the 'Rainbow City of Isaan' — and It's Painting the Streets to Prove It

While Bangkok's Pride grabs the headlines, a city in Thailand's rural northeast is quietly building one of the country's most ambitious Pride projects, complete with rainbow crosswalks and a 'Rainbow School' competition.

Jun 13, 2026 By TrueQueer
The hills and skyline of Kathmandu, Nepal, with prayer flags in the foreground
World

Nepal Made History on Same-Sex Marriage — So Why Can't Married Couples Get Their Rights?

Nepal was the first country in South Asia to recognize same-sex marriage. Two years on, only a few dozen couples have registered, and the legal benefits of marriage remain out of reach. The Supreme Court heard arguments this spring on whether to finally close the gap.

Jun 12, 2026 By TrueQueer
The Taipei skyline with Taipei 101 tower rising above the city
Rights

Seven Years After Marriage Equality, Taiwan's Support Is Holding — But the Ground Is Shifting

A new Taiwan Equality Campaign survey shows support for same-sex marriage steady at 54.3 percent, with adoption and trans-national marriage gaining ground. So why are Taiwan's activists worried?

Jun 5, 2026 By TrueQueer
Pride marchers carrying a large rainbow flag through a sunlit street in Thailand
World

Thailand Won Marriage. Now the Fight Is Over Who You Legally Are

A year and a half after Southeast Asia's first marriage equality law, Thailand's queer and trans movement is turning to the next frontier: legal gender recognition. And Pride season is in full swing while they push.

Jun 3, 2026 By TrueQueer
Bangkok skyline at sunset with rainbow lights illuminating a city street
Pride Events

Bangkok Pride 2026 Opens — Thailand's First Pride Since Marriage Equality, and a Forum That Wants the World to Listen

Bangkok Pride Festival 2026 runs May 28 to June 1 under the theme 'Patch the World with Pride.' It's the first Bangkok Pride since the Marriage Equality Act took effect on January 1, and the first to host a regional policy forum aimed squarely at the rest of Asia.

May 30, 2026 By TrueQueer
A street in Tokyo with a Pride flag visible among pedestrians
World

Japan's Marriage Equality Fight Reaches the Top: Six Cases, One Grand Bench, One Ruling to Come

Japan's Supreme Court has consolidated six same-sex marriage appeals before its full Grand Bench. The decision, expected in 2027, will determine whether the last G7 holdout's marriage ban is constitutional.

May 21, 2026 By TrueQueer
Two grooms celebrating their wedding in Thailand
World

26,000 Couples and Counting: Thailand's Marriage Equality Law Turns One

One year after becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, Thailand has seen over 26,000 couples tie the knot — roughly 10% of all marriages registered nationwide.

Apr 7, 2026 By TrueQueer
TrueQueer

TrueQueer is produced by Jeff & Zachary, a married gay couple traveling the world full-time since January 2022.

Real perspective. Global reach.

Sections

  • News
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Life
  • Opinion

Explore

  • Vibe Check
  • History Walks
  • Play
  • Our Toolkit

About

  • Our story
  • Affiliate disclosure
  • Privacy
  • RSS feed

Connect

  • Bluesky
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Need to leave fast? Tap Quick exit or press Esc. The page goes blank and opens a weather search. It doesn’t erase your browser history, so use a private window for extra privacy.

© 2026 withJZ LLC. All rights reserved. Some links on this site are affiliate links. disclosure