In Thailand actions for IDAHOT 2014 took place in various cities, involving all kinds of different stakeholders – from UN agencies to schools and young people to trans* and gender non-conforming communities, to artists and community activists. Topics highlighted by local groups included bullying in schools, transphobia, and freedom of expression.

School Rainbow Campaign

As part of a wider effort to wipe out LGBT bullying in schools, a broad coalition of groups – UNAIDS Asia Pacific, UNESCO Asia Pacific, APCOM, Youth Voices Count and Youth Lead – joined forces to organise the ‘School Rainbow’ campaign. The campaign encourages communities to come together to make chalk drawings of rainbows in city spaces, therefore symbolising the importance of diversity, public space use, and messages of inclusivity. The collective art works were mainly produced around school gates and other settings where young people are likely to come together.

Planned, coordinated and executed in partnerships with students, schools, and local communities, the campaign also brought ‘the rainbows into the classroom’ with the support of lessons on sexual diversity, acceptance and the right to education. The chalking rainbows action started on May 12 and went on throughout the week around IDAHOT 2014 in at least 4 schools and universities in Bangkok. To learn more about the School Rainbow campaign, you can see the campaign’s website.

Rainbow chalking at New International School Thailand | Photo by UNAIDS/H. Nhan

Study, event and infographic on LGBTI bullying in Thailand

In addition to the School Rainbow event, UNESCO Asia Pacific also commemorated the Day by releasing the first ever systematic study (and infographic) which documents bullying on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools in Thailand. The study formed part of a joint effort of the agency, together with Plan International Thailand and Mahidol University. The study was released as part of another IDAHOT event, “Bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people in Thailand: Risks and Realities,” at Thailand Knowledge Park (TK Park), 14 May, 5.30pm-8pm.  Organized by UNESCO Asia Pacific, UNAIDS Asia Pacific and the Embassies of the United States and the Netherlands in Thailand, the event also included a film screening and panel discussion showcasing experiences and perspectives on the realities and risks of discrimination and bullying against LGBTI young people.

Power Rainbow Workshop for Young People

Still on the theme of anti-bullying, Anjaree Foundation held a ‘Power Rainbow Workshop’ for young people (high school and college students) on May 17 at the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre. The workshop provided a forum for LGBTI students to exchange stories of their school life as well as for educators and students to discuss how to reduce bullying, violence and discriminatory practices within school environments in particular, as well as within Thai society in general.

The Panelists of Power Rainbow workshop

Thai Transgender Alliance Actions

The day before May 17, trans* communities and their allies came together to focus on issues of both transgender rights and freedom of expression, as part of an IDAHOT event organized by Thai Transgender Alliance (Thai TGA). Held in Bangkok Art and Cultural Center from noon to 6.30 PM, a “Where Everyone Can Express Themselves” workshop aimed to shed light on the freedom and rights of Thai transgender individuals in accessing state public services, private sector services and employment.

Participants of the “Where Everyone Can Express Themselves” Workshop

IDAHOT Bangkok Actions

The city of Bangkok also has its own IDAHOT Working group, which is made up of individual LGBTIQ activists, and supported by Rainbow Sky Association Thailand volunteers, Anjaree Foundation, Galaya Club, People’s Empowerment Foundation, and some HIV-focused organisations such as SWING and The Poz.

The working group  conducted an IDAHOT campaign this year which was also focused on the concept of freedom of expression. Comprising a smart, cost-free social media advocacy campaign, which plays on the freedom of expression concept, the working group launched the campaign: “IDAHOT Selfies; This is me! This is us!”. The campaign invited LGBTIQ communities and allies to take selfies and post them with the #SiamIDAHOT hashtag on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. These selfies were collected into one post-campaign image to create a visual tapestry/representation of LGBTIQ identities in Thailand.

The working group also conducted candlelight vigil ceremony on the evening of May 17 to close the IDAHOT celebration in Thailand together with the above organizers.

The Bangkok IDAHOT 2014 Candlelight Vigil

Their line up for IDAHOT 2013 is as follows:

1. Pre-event for IDAHOT:

Thai TGA will co-organize a participatory workshop with Miss Tiffany Company, the world-renowned transwoman beauty pageant organization in Thailand. The workshop will be conducted on Monday 29, April with 27 transwoman finalists. The workshop will focus on raising awareness of IDAHOT, sexual rights and other human rights related to transwoman in Thailand. We will also invite medias, journalists and other famous trans celebrities to join this event taken place in Pattaya.

2 Event on IDAHOT

Thai TGA and Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) will organize a one day IDAHOT event on May 17 at the NHRC office. The panel discussion will cover several topics, for instance, global movement on IDAHOT, the result of the workshop with Miss Tiffany, the results dissemination of the project on “Trans Rights Watch for Military Recruitment” conducted by Thai TGA.

The project has been continued to follow up with the implementation of Ministry of Defense that has exempted Thai transwomen from the military services, but the paper used to be written as “mental disorder”, or “sexual deviance”. Since last year, the new term has been introduced as “GID”. However we have translated into Thai language as “Gender is incompatible with sex at birth”.

For more infomation log onto www.thaitga.com // www.facebook.com/thaitga

In Bangkok, LGBTQI activists organised the event ‘IDAHOT Rainbow People’. Various rainbow themed activities were conducted involving dance, theatre, costume and candlelight, at the Democracy Monument, Thamasat University, BTS Skytrain, and Victory Monument consecutively. Various other events took place throughout the country.

Thai Transgender Alliance events

One major contribution to this years May 17 commemorations was led by the Thai Transgender Alliance (Thai TGA), a non-profit organisation working for the human rights and sexual health of transgender people in Thailand. The group made international headlines in January after they openly denounced IKEA’s “negative and stereotypical” ad campaign, which depicted an MTF trans woman in a “deceitful” light.

The List of IDAHOT 2013 events in Thailand

1. Pre-event for IDAHOT:

Thai TGA co-organized a participatory workshop with Miss Tiffany Company, the world-renowned transwomen beauty pageant organization in Thailand. The workshop took place on Monday 29, April with 27 transwomen finalists. The workshop focused on raising awareness of IDAHOT, sexual rights and other human rights related to transwommen in Thailand. The organizers also invited media and local trans celebrities to join this event in Pattaya.

2 Event on IDAHOT

Thai TGA and Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) organized a day-long IDAHOT event at the NHRC office on May 17th. The panel discussion covered several topics, including global IDAHOT movement. The workshop results were summed up by Miss Tiffany, followed by the summary of the project on “Trans Rights Watch for Military Recruitment” conducted by Thai TGA.

For more infomation log onto www.thaitga.com // www.facebook.com/thaitga

Photos from Bangkok Rainbow People:

Several OpEds marked the Day in the national media :

The nation