Viet Pride 2015

Theo nguồn tin trên trang mạng của U.S. Embassy – The American Center @ Hanoi City

Media Release
FOURTH VIET PRIDE: WE ARE QUEER, WE ARE HERE
Hanoi, July 23, 2015 – Preparation for the fourth LGBT Pride in Vietnam is in full swing,
with the Goethe Institut, the American Club, and many other sites getting ready for a series of
events celebrating diversity in Hanoi. The theme of this year, “We are Queer, We are Here”,
aims to promote awareness and visibility for same-sex love and gender-nonconformity in
common spaces like the workplace, schools, cafes, theatres, and in the street. The initiative has
been received enthusiastically by the local LGBT communities, expatriates, and a coalition of
Vietnamese, foreign NGOs and diplomatic missions.
Building on the momentum since 2012, Viet Pride 2015 will present significant LGBT
initiatives from the July 30 to August 02, most notably:
1) Viet Pride Scholarship: Starting in 2014, the Viet Pride Scholarship has gone on in its
second round to provide assistance for disadvantaged LGBT youth to obtain vocational
education or Bachelor degrees. Last year’s awardees, Vivian Tran and Nguyen Minh Tri, will
join the 5 new awardees of 2015, including Tran Quang Huy, Le Quang Thanh Phuc, Do Phuong
Linh, Tu Thanh Thuy, and Huynh Cong Minh on stage at Viet Pride 2015 Opening.
2) Equal Office campaign brings LGBT knowledge, visibility and educational materials
to the workplace, targeting office workers and employers across Vietnam. The campaign is
building its groundwork and will kick-start with two dialogues between campaign organisers and
businesses in Hanoi and Saigon, supported by the Dutch Embassy, US Consulate, US Embassy,
and PwC Vietnam.
3) PFLAG will appear at Viet Pride to share about the coming-out experience in the
parent-child relationship, as well as other contexts where coming-out happens for both LGBT
children and parents of LGBT people. The talk is preceded by a 30-min documentary ‘A Family
Affair’ by Human Rights in Pictures from the Netherlands.
4) Viet Pride bicycle rally will take place on the last day of the celebration, August 02,
from Giang Vo Lake to the American Club where a gathering will take place together with live
music, free drinks, and closing remarks. Singer Huong Giang Idol will make a special
appearance at the event.
There will be three other film screenings – ‘It Gets Better’ (Thailand), ‘The Good Son’
(Israel), ‘The Way He Looks’ (Brazil) – a research presentation “Being LGBT Youth in
Vietnam” by Save The Children and a iSEE-UNDP-USAID’s panel on same-sex marriage law
victory in the US, as well as Hanoi Panic’s zine, Echoes’ LGBT Soundwalk, and Queer Disco’s
Love Boat night. Fellow Pride organisers from Cambodia (RoCK) and China (Shanghai Pride)
will also join the events.
The last three years have seen significant and groundbreaking developments in the LGBT
scene in Vietnam. Alongside with legal advocacy that has resulted in major changes in same-sex
marriage law, Viet Pride serves as one of the most powerful venues for social change in attitude
towards same-sex relationships and gender non-conformity. This has been reflected through the
wide coverage of the events by media both local and international, a coalition of supporters
consisting of many diplomatic missions and NGOs, and the participation of numerous grassroots
communities and LGBT individuals. “Celebration of Pride is important everywhere in the world,
including here in Vietnam where sex and sexuality remain a taboo topic, and the LGBT
community experience discrimination, prejudice, and injustices in many different forms. It is
also important because it forges a sense of community, especially for those who are still in the
closet. ‘We are Queer, We are Here’ goes a long way in asserting the existence of LGBT not
only to the heterosexual majority but also amongst members of the minority themselves”, said
Nguyen Thanh Tam, Viet Pride organiser.
Sponsors and participating organisations/communities: Civil Rights Defenders, Goethe
Institut, US Embassy, Dutch Embassy, Canadian Embassy, PFLAG, Save the Children, The
American Club, 6+, Amazin LêThi Foundation, PwC Vietnam, iSEE, UNDP, USAID, Echoes’
LGBT Soundwalk, Hanoi Panic, and Queer Disco.
Full program and information: www.vietpride.info
Contact:
Nguyen Thanh Tam – 01266 147 551
Nguyen Thuy Ngan Trang – 0926 038 699
vietpride@vietpride.org
www.vietpride.info
Pictures of Viet Pride 2012 – 2014: https://instagram.com/vietpride12/

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