Canada champions LGBTQ2 rights across Asia-Pacific


In a number of countries across Asia, the Australia visa Singapore LGBTQ2 community faces barriers not just from society, but from the legal system itself.
In Malaysia, the LGBTQ2 community encounters widespread discrimination and harassment, including through the legal system.
Same sex relations remain illegal under the criminal code regardless of age or consent, while “cross-dressing” is illegal for Muslim Malaysians under Shariah law.
The Malaysian government has also sponsored rehabilitation camps to address “gender confusion.”
In Singapore, local law criminalizes sexual acts between mutually consenting men, although the law is not enforced. And in Vietnam, where same-sex marriage is no longer banned, the transgender community still faces inequality across society.
For activist groups in Malaysia, one of the key priorities is fighting to improve living and working conditions for the LGBTQ2 community.
A two-day workshop in Kuala Lumpur helped participants learn to write a CV, develop workplace communication techniques and learn job-entry advice from human resources experts.
SEED, a non-profit and community-based organization, is helping marginalized groups in Malaysia. From health care services and HIV/AIDS information to job referrals and networking events, SEED provides safe spaces for the transgender community, disadvantaged women and people living with HIV.
With financial support from the Canada Fund Canada embassy singapore for Local Initiatives (CFLI), SEED provided people in Malaysia’s transgender community with the professional training they needed to enter the workforce.


Recognizing the reality of widespread discrimination against Malaysia’s transgender community, participants shared information about transgender-friendly workplaces in Malaysia and strategies for dealing with discrimination and harassment.
Nisha Ayub, the Founder and Director of SEED, told the audience “we need more opportunities like this to educate our community… to improve their confidence to pursue their career and development.” In Singapore, Canada has supported an organization named Oogachaga, which has worked with Singapore’s LGBTQ2 community for nearly 20 years to provide counselling, support groups and training.
The Canadian High Commission in Singapore supported the organization’s initiative to update their website, making it more user-friendly and accessible on mobile devices. Within a week of the re-launch, the average number of visitors to the site increased nearly five-fold.
Access to information, support, and services for the LGBTQ2 community is now just a click away.
While many Asia-Pacific countries do not pose strict legal barriers towards LGBTQ2 persons, discrimination remains a problem.
In Vietnam, the ban on same-sex marriage was lifted in 2015, and gender reassignment surgery has been legalized.
However, transgender people in Vietnam still face stigma in applying for jobs, visiting public spaces and accessing health care.
Recognizing the toll of these day-to-day struggles, the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) in Vietnam funded the Centre of Promotion of Quality of Life (LIFE Centre) to promote gender sensitivity in health care services for transgender women.
One of the LIFE Centre’s trainers, Mia Nguyen, is a psychological counselling specialist and a transgender woman. Mia trained 250 healthcare  Singapore visa wikipedia providers to promote gender sensitivity in the medical profession, and to recognize the challenges facing Vietnam’s transgender community.


“It is the first time I trained health service providers and I am so happy about this. My husband and my family must be very proud of me!” Mia said.
In 2017, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ordered the country to legalise same-sex marriage within two years, making it the first jurisdiction in Asia to take this crucial step.
Chi-Wei Chung from the Taiwan LGBTQ Hotline speaks at Canada’s Trade Office in Taipei.
But negative responses from the population have been vocal. Opposition groups mobilized against same-sex marriage, launching strategic attacks and “fake-news” campaigns against both the court decision and the push towards gender-inclusive education.
In response, Canada’s Trade Office in Taipei implemented a multi-year strategy to support LGBTQ2-inclusive education.
Working with the Taiwan LGBTQ Hotline and the Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association, the Trade Office used seminars, roundtables and lectures to promote an exchange of ideas on LGBTQ2 rights, marriage equality and inclusive education.



Popular posts from this blog

Canada Immigration Blogs by Attorney David Cohen

On Monday, August 12, 2019, the Trump  Australia visa Singapore  Administration, through the Department of Homeland Security, announced a major and extremely contentious policy directive regarding immigration to the United States. The new regulation,"Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds" spans 837 pages. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the key American statute governing immigration to the country, leaves, per ss. 212 (a)(4), inadmissible to the nation people deemed likely to become a"public charge." As the name of this new regulation suggests, its purpose is to Establish and expand the ambit of the public bill category; specifically, the law identifies people who get designated gains for twelve months (aggregate) over any 36-month interval as falling into the public charge category. Designated benefits consist of many things such as any cash benefits for income maintenance, many forms of Medicaid, and food stamps. Foreigners seeking to extend t...
Read more

Canada Launches New Construction Pilot Project 2019

Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to implement a temporary initiative which can help 500 out-of-status building employees and their families locate a pathway to permanent residence. This is in hopes it will finish the  Canada visa  insecure nature of their employment and immigration status in Canada. Out-of-status employees are people who have Come to Canada with legitimate temporary residence status, but have fallen out of status for various reasons, and have found employment in the construction market. Without status, these employees have continued to fill labour shortages, while contributing greatly to Canada's economy and society. However, fear of detection, detainment, and deportation drives these employees and their families"hidden, and" often limiting their access to social programs, and making them vulnerable to employer exploitation and abuse. The Temporary Public Policy for Out-of-Status Construction Workers in the Greater Toronto Area responds to a rec...
Read more