Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness
Center Decries November Arrest of Gay Men in Vietnam
San Francisco, December 23 2002
Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center today spoke
out against last month's arrest of gay men in Vietnam, which
went largely unreported by English-language media in the San
Francisco Bay Area.
"Sending the Vietnamese men to the equivalent of jail
amounts to the criminalization of homosexuality in that country,"
said John Manzon-Santos, executive director of Asian &
Pacific Islander Wellness Center. "This is the latest
example of longstanding political stigmatization faced by
Vietnamese lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities,
as well as the intense personal, familial and community shame
which results from these actions on the part of the Vietnamese
government."
Thirty gay men were arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on November
6 during a raid by police on a fitness center, where they
were having sex in the sauna area. "Such mass homosexual
conduct breaches administration regulations and is harmful
to social order," a police spokesman told news agencies.
"We have sent them to an education school to warn them
against further similar infringements." The story was
reported by Rex Wockner's News Service on The Letter Internet
Edition (http://www.theletter.net/decintnl.htm), as well as
elsewhere on the Internet and in Vietnamese print media, Web
sites, and Bay Area Vietnamese print publications.
"This national homophobic policy is felt by Vietnamese
people in the U.S.," said Tony Nguyen, men's program
supervisor at Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center.
"It's almost 2003 – how can this still be happening?
This policy should be changed. I'm very concerned because
I go back and forth to my home country, and I'm scared for
my queer brothers and sisters there."
A&PI Wellness Center offers a range of programs for the
Vietnamese community, including individual and group support
for gay and bisexual men, HIV testing, and services for people
living with HIV. These services are offered in Vietnamese
and English. For more information, contact Tony Nguyen at
415.292.3420 ext. 319 or anguyen@apiwellness.org.
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