From “Social Evils” to “Human Beings”: Vietnam's LGBT Movement and the Politics of Recognition

Since 2008, non-governmental organisations and other civil society organisations have helped to transform the image of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Vietnam. Their efforts reached a peak in 2014 when Vietnam became the first country in Asia to debate the issue of same-sex...

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Main Author: Pham Quynh Phuong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2022-12-01
Series:Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/18681034221108748
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author Pham Quynh Phuong
author_facet Pham Quynh Phuong
author_sort Pham Quynh Phuong
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description Since 2008, non-governmental organisations and other civil society organisations have helped to transform the image of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Vietnam. Their efforts reached a peak in 2014 when Vietnam became the first country in Asia to debate the issue of same-sex marriage in the national parliament. Yet, the outcome of the debate remained was ambiguous, with same-sex marriage being neither illegal nor recognised by the state. This paper explores the tactics and strategies of LGBT activists as they campaigned for recognition of same-sex marriage. It argues that a key factor in the “in-between” outcome was their lack of attention to the redistributive implications of recognition. Together with attention to the fractured nature of the Vietnamese state, engaging directly with issues of redistribution may allow LGBT activists to further advance the politics of recognition at the same time as they redefine the contours of civil society and activism in contemporary Vietnam.
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spelling doaj.art-ace827279db0413e80a42308aa6aca022022-12-22T04:38:57ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs1868-10341868-48822022-12-014110.1177/18681034221108748From “Social Evils” to “Human Beings”: Vietnam's LGBT Movement and the Politics of RecognitionPham Quynh PhuongSince 2008, non-governmental organisations and other civil society organisations have helped to transform the image of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Vietnam. Their efforts reached a peak in 2014 when Vietnam became the first country in Asia to debate the issue of same-sex marriage in the national parliament. Yet, the outcome of the debate remained was ambiguous, with same-sex marriage being neither illegal nor recognised by the state. This paper explores the tactics and strategies of LGBT activists as they campaigned for recognition of same-sex marriage. It argues that a key factor in the “in-between” outcome was their lack of attention to the redistributive implications of recognition. Together with attention to the fractured nature of the Vietnamese state, engaging directly with issues of redistribution may allow LGBT activists to further advance the politics of recognition at the same time as they redefine the contours of civil society and activism in contemporary Vietnam.https://doi.org/10.1177/18681034221108748
spellingShingle Pham Quynh Phuong
From “Social Evils” to “Human Beings”: Vietnam's LGBT Movement and the Politics of Recognition
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs
title From “Social Evils” to “Human Beings”: Vietnam's LGBT Movement and the Politics of Recognition
title_full From “Social Evils” to “Human Beings”: Vietnam's LGBT Movement and the Politics of Recognition
title_fullStr From “Social Evils” to “Human Beings”: Vietnam's LGBT Movement and the Politics of Recognition
title_full_unstemmed From “Social Evils” to “Human Beings”: Vietnam's LGBT Movement and the Politics of Recognition
title_short From “Social Evils” to “Human Beings”: Vietnam's LGBT Movement and the Politics of Recognition
title_sort from social evils to human beings vietnam s lgbt movement and the politics of recognition
url https://doi.org/10.1177/18681034221108748
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