{"id":3777,"date":"2018-11-09T11:30:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T05:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/new-eng\/?p=3777"},"modified":"2026-01-28T10:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T04:26:14","slug":"myanmar-is-arresting-people-for-being-gay-under-colonial-era-sodomy-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/?p=3777","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar is arresting people for being gay under colonial-era sodomy law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two people have recently been charged under Section 377, a law advocates say was rarely enforced<\/h2>\n

At least two recent arrests of LGBTI Myanmar citizens using the country\u2019s anti-gay law has shaken the community.<\/p>\n

Police have reportedly charged a local restaurant owner and a make-up artist, who both reportedly identify as gay, in the last few months.<\/p>\n

LGBTI community members in\u00a0Myanmar, formerly called Burma<\/a>, told Gay Star News they were concerned as the law has not been recently enforced.<\/p>\n

Section 377 of Myanmar\u2019s penal code criminalizes \u2018carnal intercourse against the order of nature\u2019. The British introduced it in 1860 and those found guilty face up to 10 years in jail.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is clearly a provision that could imprison the LGBT community at any time\u2019 LGBTI advocate Yaya Aye Myat told Gay Star News. But, they said, authorities rarely enforced it.<\/p>\n

In September, India\u2019s Supreme Court ruled the same British colonial law was unconstitutional<\/a>.\u00a0Malaysia and Singapore also have similar anti-gay legislation.<\/a><\/p>\n

Myanmar\u2019s LGBTI community face widespread stigma discrimination. Many people, therefore, live in the closet.<\/p>\n

In a sign of rising acceptance, however, Myanmar this year celebrated its first LGBTI pride event in the commercial hub, Yangon.<\/a><\/p>\n

What has happened?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Police charged restaurant owner and outspoken LGBTI advocate, Addy Chen, under 377. A judge denied him bail as the trial continues, according to local activists.<\/p>\n

One of Chen\u2019s employees accused him of sexual assault.<\/p>\n

An online video shows Chen\u2019s accuser detailing how Chen forced them to engage in oral and anal sex.<\/p>\n

Mainstream media and social media users widely shared the video.<\/p>\n

Chen is HIV positive. His access to antiretroviral drugs has been limited while he is in jail, his family members told the Washington Blade.<\/p>\n

In a separate case, a\u00a0make-up artist known as Paw Paw was charged under 377 for allegedly having sex with an underage boy, according to Yaya Aye Myat.<\/p>\n

Paw Paw\u2019s trial is also ongoing.<\/p>\n

What is the impact on LGBTI Burmese?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

LGBTI advocates say Myanmar authorities rarely use Section 377.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have hardly heard of arrests under Section 377 in Myanmar these years\u2019, said Yaya Aye Myat.<\/p>\n

But, the advocate said, wider society \u2018has not understood the negative impacts towards us with the criminalization of homosexual relationships\u2019.<\/p>\n

Nay Oo Lwin from advocacy group Equality Myanmar said the law had been used as a \u2018money making machine by police in the past\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018They threaten to our community and asked money\u2019, he said. But, police rarely charged individuals.<\/p>\n

Worryingly, he said, \u2018the trend is a bit changed\u2019 with recent arrests.<\/p>\n

The LGBTI community has also criticized local media for widely publishing Chen\u2019s accusers\u2019 account of events before the trial concludes.<\/p>\n

Reports have been one-sided and biased against Chen due to his sexuality and his HIV status, they say.<\/p>\n

Yaya Aye Myat said they supported freedom of expression, but that this reporting may come \u2018at the cost of the dignity of the [LGBTI] community\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018Many of the local media were illustrating these cases as LGBT community were disgusting\u2019 said Nay Oo Lwin.<\/p>\n

\u2018I feel that many people still need to understand about rule of law and LGBT rights\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

GayStarNews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two people have recently been charged under Section 377, a law advocates say was rarely enforced At least two recent arrests of LGBTI Myanmar citizens using the country\u2019s anti-gay law has shaken the community. Police have reportedly charged a local restaurant owner and a make-up artist, who both reportedly identify as gay, in the last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3777"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3779,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3777\/revisions\/3779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}