🎉 Thanks for all your insight in the comments section! 🌈 For more LGBTQ+ content, check this playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PL7Xzr099h8CM1TtP_sezXNqbQxty2eG3u.html&si=9V_-44IMdH88GL7B
I live in Malaysia. Been out since I was 14 and I'm 24 now. Been arguing for my existence for a decade and nowadays I'm just tired at arguing. I have no hope that Malaysia will never change, which is why I'm eager to move out to a more LGBTQ friendly country. Nordic countries seem fine enough.
About 10 years ago, I would have told you to come to the US. However, due to all the culture war bullshit and the rise of Trumpism, I'd never suggest that anyone move here. I feel as if, Canada or one of the Nordic countries, like the OP mentioned would be the best option. No matter what, I wish you both nothing but the best! 💕
That was a very interesting video! I'm from Russia, and I would add that public opinion varies in different regions. In big cities like Moscow or St. Petersburg it's somehow manageable, though you are not safe from random beating in the bar. But in places like Chechnya there are a lot of cases when members of lgbtq+ community are killed and authorities purposefully ignore it. There is a a documentary film called Welcome to Chechnya (2020) about this.
I suspect that the reason for that is the same as Afghanistan: most of the people in Chechnya believe in Islam, including Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Republic. He is so notorious in his cruelty that even writing his name is kinda scary
Thank you so much for reporting from there! I feel like the more eastern countries are so blindsided in media report over here in my case in Switzerland, that I am always glad to learn from the people who live in the countries I barely even know! I value your info very much! ^^
Thanks for covering. I am also a queer Canadian and know how privileged I am to live here. I do fear it could shift as I observe how things are going in US. We also have a far right and the rhetoric coming out of Pierre Poilievre and Maxime Bernier make me sick. All the trolls that have rolled out of the wood work with the SOGI situation is yet another good example of how we must continue to have respectful, well-researched, compassionate conversations to bring awareness and change.
I'm a trans guy in England, lgbtq people do have a lot of rights however trans people are losing their rights cos of the prime minister. Also, the NHS wait time is so long it leads people to take their own lives which is horrific. Hate crimes are also increasing for trans people rapidly.
I was briefly offended that Taiwan was shown as not supporting LGBT rights in the UN, because it is the most progressive country in Asia when it comes to that, but then I remembered that Taiwan isn't allowed to be an independent member in the UN and is instead grouped with China.
Definitely depends on where you are in the United States. Im increasingly thinking about open carrying because Im straight passing but my boyfriend is not. 🏳️🌈
Austrian here. Though I might not be the best source for this topic as I'm aroace and cis, but I'll just describe my impressions and the stuff my friends of different queer identities are going through. I can't really comment on the "real" trans experience here, though, because I don't have any close friends who are trans. Currently, I live in the city for university and I really like it here and I do feel safe (but that might be because I don't look outright queer). But one of my more feminine looking queer guy friend has reported slurs being called at him when people thought he was being too intoxicated to realise/when they thought he was being an easy target. I was born in the countryside and spent the first half of my life there before moving and it is a weird place to be, I suppose. If asked, most people would say queer people don't bother them "as long as they don't shove it in your face" but then vote for the far-right party who is looking to illegalise same-sex marriage and ban gender affirming care (among others. They are also outright hostile when it comes to immigrants and women. You just gotta love the FPÖ, but to be fair, there have been much more far-right parties emerging during the pandemic and it is scary as fuck). So, yeah, politics have also developed in the strange direction of US politics. Instead of taking care of issues such as climate change and increasing social inequality, they make up new problems to scare the people and find easy "solutions" to lure in voters. And scarily, it's working. And another thing that has happened is that a bunch of teenagers (I think they were onlx 14, 17 and 20) were planning an attack on Vienna Pride this June, with the intention to hurt or even kill people. They were fortunately arrested before the parade started but I was in a state of shock and disbelief for the next two days after I found out. I wasn’t planning on attending Vienna Pride because I live on the other side of the country, but one of my friends did. And the thought that I could have lost her is so scary, I didn’t think something like this could happen in my country. Oookay, that was long, I'm sorry, I just had to ramble. So in short, I still feel like I'm in a safe place, but anti-lgbtq rethoric and far right politics are taking off because people are scared and politicians are using that to their advantage to win the next election. I can hope that it's just a fad that goes away quickly, but since it's working, I fear that the future, particularly for all of my trans siblings, is going to be much much scarier
Thank you for your insight. I've always seen Austria as a safe place for anyone, I was honestly shocked when I learned that it is not. I hope the situation gets better over there and in my country of Brazil, and I really hope to go or live there one day!
Trans person living next to you in Switzerland here. Our right-wing is starting to say things like "Transgenderism is just propaganda from the US and we need to stop it from spreading here, because it's endangering children" or "There is no social basis for a 'third' gender". We were already kind of behind on making progress - we only recently got gay marriage and adoption rights. We haven't gotten any progress on gender neutral options on forms and such... And now this anti Trans propaganda is starting. So I'm not very hopeful that we'll get those options. I guess we can just vote for supportive politicians, try to spread the message, then wait and see how it goes. The queerphobia here also varies depending on where you live. I personally never experienced any outright discrimination (Got called the F and T slurs in primary school but that was just kids being stupid not even knowing what those words meant). My mom has had a pretty bad experience with a good friend when she told him about me tho.
@brunovb2650 In general, I would say Austria is a relatively safe place for queer people, particularly the cities. Of course, there are going to be assholes everywhere, but I generally feel safe. The issue are the right wing parties who noticed that the hateful propaganda Republicans in the US are using, work when it comes to gaining votes. So they're fearmongering and this works especially well with people who aren' familiar with this specific topic (this topic used to be migrants and, right now in particular, trans people). The situation is scary but I doubt that it'll escalate the way it did in the US. But still. No place is as safe or utopian as you'd expect it to be, but generally, I like it here a lot. The current development of politics might be scary, but particularly young people are determined to fight back against bigotry, so I'm hopeful for the future. I would love to welcome you here one day. Stay safe!
As an Albertan I felt the "more locally may vary" really strongly. I am fortunate that federally there has been as much success as there has been in providing protections, while also being extremely aware of how much the provincial party can still cause a lot of problems. Much love to our kin in more regressive places on this topic, I hope that a day will come when we do not need to fight for our right to exist.
Hello. I am a Queer and Non-binary person living in the USA. I agree with your point that LGBTQ rights vary greatly by state. Supreme Court cases made homosexuality legal in every state in 2003 and made same-sex marriage recognized in 2015. . Outside of these two basic rights, LGBTQ equality varies greatly from state to state. I am lucky to be able to live in Illinois which is one of the best states for LGBTQ rights, relatively speaking. Although most areas in IL are conservative leaning, Chicago is very progressive and prevents the state from regressing on LGBTQ rights. Recently a lot of anti-trans hate has been flaring up. In my opinion, one of our major political parties, the Republican Party, likes to find a scapegoat to hate in order to mobilize their voter base. In the past, this scapegoat has been Communists, Muslims, Immigrants, etc. The Republican Party offers no real benefits to the average American so they make up culture war BS to shadowbox against to make them seem like they are doing something. Recently, trans people became their new punching bag leading to many times more anti-trans laws in the past two years or so. Its gotten so bad that some trans people and their families have been moving out of anti-trans states, a kind of state-to-state refugee crisis. Florida is by far the worst state for LGBTQ rights with some civil rights organizations arguing people should avoid that state if they can. Personally I really worry about my safety and the safety of other LGBTQ Americans. Right now my state is relatively safe but I don't know if that will last forever. I have considered the possibility of moving to Canada if LGBTQ rights in the USA get worse and I don't think I am the only LGBTQ American to consider this. Particularly, I worry about the more far-right, hard-line fascist elements gaining power.If USA becomes worse, Canada could have a refugee crisis of its own. You probably know most of this information because you have covered this topic before, I just wanted to give my perspective.
it’s not just Republicans, though - many Democrats, both on state and federal levels, have done absolutely nothing to stop the erosion of our rights, and are just as complicit in the eradication of trans people as Republicans are
France is probably one if not the best country for queer rights, just because anti-trans hate here also have a HUGE american accent, so it made a lot of people pro-trans out of spite of the yankees lmao i'm so proud of my people 💪
Thanks for this! I'll be 40 at the end of November and the state of LGBTQ asttacks in the USA saddens me to no end! I felt so happy that I was alive to see same sex marriage become legal. However, the far right assult on basic human rights in the US, especially the rights of the LGBTQ community is at an unprecedented high! This is thanks in large part to the rather bigioted and outspoken ppl in the Trump MAGA cult, I mean movement. Its not only sad but really scary! I know these MAGA folks only account for about 1/3 of the US population. However, this means there are millions Americans on the far right who hate anyone who doesnt look or act like them. Again, scary shit!
I live in Switzerland but was born in Germany and consume a lot of media. In Switzerland it seems pretty fine. 3 years ago, there has been a law passed that incredibly eased the legal sex-changing process from needing a court judge to just walking into the office and asking for a document change. You still have to pay for the occurring effort but it is very manageable. A few years before that we also managed to legalize gay marreage with about 65% voting yes which for Switzerland (a country who always votes no if in doubt) is a lot of yesses! Germany also legalised gay marreage a bit less than a decade ago und just issued a law that also eases the legal sex-change. It is yet to be in action but I think we'll have that by the end of this year if I am not mistaken. But we are moving to the right rn, to the point where I fear we might get a far-right government in the next legislatory period which would be a big loss in progress. Sadly the america-flavoured arguments on bathrooms, childrengrooming etc. are sadly here now aswell, even in just the conservative party (CDU). So in short: Switzerland looks good, Germany aswell but that might change. Especially in terms of trans rights. Socially I have been very closeted and I still am, since I already faced a gigantic amount of discrimination in the past, including regular violence for 3 years in school for being "too girly for a boy" and autistic. I barely know anyone else who lives in Switzerland and had to go through something like this, so I see my case as the exception rather than the rule since I know quite a few transfems at this point (double-digit). Generally from the european (swiss & german) point of view despite the 10+ years of discrimination I faced (my life is in my room ever since covid though, so it counts more from 2021 backwards) for being gender non-conforming and autistic, Switzerland is still one of the countries to choose aside from scandinavian countries like Norway or the Netherlands if you are LGBTQIA+ or neurodivergent.
As someone who is lesbian and has a lot of connections with Japan, and Japanese LGBT people, I can say that things are really complicated when it comes to how their society views and treats LGBT people. I think that Japanese society in general is one where people are are expected to not stick out, and keep their business private, and so being LGBT or having a partner of the same sex is also just seen as one of those things that you do privately in your own home. I don't think that anyone is outwardly hostile to the concept of gay people, in the same way that Japanese people don't tend to be hostile to anyone who isn't harmful, but to many, the idea of actually meeting a gay person doesn't even cross their mind. The fact that people are socially conditioned to not be proudly out means that unless it's you or an immediate family member, you just aren't likely to know a gay person without seeking them out, because even if you had a gay friend or co-worker, they'd never talk about it. I think that another aspect that exacerbates things is just how difficult it is to find places to actually meet LGBT people in the first place. Granted, I'm not particularly great at making friends even in Europe, but finding gay establishments in Japan feels outright cryptic. I managed to visit a few lesbian bars over there, which were honestly great experiences, but it took me quite a few attempts to locate one, since you'd only really know by looking it up online, as the bars themselves don't have any signage or iconography that would indicate that they are gay establishments, and even then, they were typically located in spots you wouldn't find if you weren't already familiar with the area, such as a bar in a small room down the 4th floor corridor of a building in an obscure alley. I've noticed that LGBT tends to be not very well understood in Japan even among actual LGBT people. As a European, I'm not really the type to hide what I am, so many of my Japanese friends have responded to it with confusion or surprise, which make it clear just how little they understand of the topic, and how I'm likely the first openly gay person they'd ever met. I think the most interesting were the responses of other LGBT people, such as a close female friend who described to me the feelings she had that she was never able to describe or understand until that very conversation she had with me, in which I gave her the words and concepts to figure out that she was probably pansexual or demisexual. I also know another Japanese girl who didn't flinch at me mentioning being gay, and whilst she hasn't directly talked about her own sexuality, she does give every indication that she's probably interested in me. My aforementioned pansexual friend advised me that she's likely just as lost about her same-sex feelings if she has them, so I should just give her time to figure things out. At no point did I ever feel like I was in danger in Japan for being openly gay, but I think that this general lack of understanding, lack of legal protections, and inability to marry someone I love are big reasons that I've been reluctant to make a life there, and am much more content in Europe. If I were to ever end up with a Japanese partner, I think that The Netherlands would be far better for us than Japan.
IMO if it isn't hurting anyone then its fine. But the second you start hurting people or harrasing them then its going too far. That goes for all lifestyles as well, for example, homphobia to the point of attacking members of the LGBTQIA+ community is going too far, and if you are so obsessed with LGBTQ+ rights that you start trying to take things from others based on the fact your in the community or something along those lines thats also too far.
I know you didn't mention us at all, but thanks for labeling Taiwan blue. We're the first in the entirety of Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, and we're proud of it. Having come out of a dictatorship just 37 years ago, we understand the value of democracy and the importance of human rights. A country will never propsper if prejudice and hatred permeates.
I live in Brazil, São Paulo to be specific, and it's very mixed. Althought we have a strong community support and are allowed to express ourselves, society's thinking about LGBT people still is horrible. Our country continues to be the one with the largest number of trans people killed, there are several cases of beating and other crimes. It can be safe for some depending on where you are, how you look. But it can also be very dangerous.
Like France the anti American Canadian nationalism helps make us as progressive and pro LGBTQ as we are. Hope we continue this tradition. I remember I was more conservative back in the day and watched pragerU only to realize they hate our social safety net and spreading lies about our healthcare system. Been a social Democrat ever since lol and more and more progressive over time. One thing for foreigners never say for profit healthcare is better the public healthcare to a Canadian.
The UK is in general a good place for LGBTQ+ rights, and I'm very thankful that I live here, but there is still a lot of anti-lgbt sentiment, to the point that my boyfriend and I have been actively threatened while out together. Its also getting worse for trans rights, mostly due to the extended rule of the conservative party and the increasing push towards pandering to the older, daily mail reading demographic as that is the tories core cohort.
The fact that you said "honor" with an "h" sound is so funny to me. I know that in French, the "h" is always silent, whereas in English it isn't. So then you decided to pronounce the "h" for this word, but it's actually silent too. It's mind-blowingly annoying, I know. English is such a crazy language. Good lucky on your English-learning journey, my guy😂
Thanks for this observation on my accent. Hopefully, I pronounced the rest of my script to your liking. And I hope you enjoyed the content of the video too...
🎉 Thanks for all your insight in the comments section!
🌈 For more LGBTQ+ content, check this playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PL7Xzr099h8CM1TtP_sezXNqbQxty2eG3u.html&si=9V_-44IMdH88GL7B
I live in Malaysia. Been out since I was 14 and I'm 24 now. Been arguing for my existence for a decade and nowadays I'm just tired at arguing. I have no hope that Malaysia will never change, which is why I'm eager to move out to a more LGBTQ friendly country. Nordic countries seem fine enough.
Same. I am Malaysian, and I am so sick of Malaysians openly condemning and making fun of LGBTQ+ rights. It's depressing
Thanks for sharing your experience with us 🙏
About 10 years ago, I would have told you to come to the US. However, due to all the culture war bullshit and the rise of Trumpism, I'd never suggest that anyone move here. I feel as if, Canada or one of the Nordic countries, like the OP mentioned would be the best option. No matter what, I wish you both nothing but the best! 💕
That was a very interesting video! I'm from Russia, and I would add that public opinion varies in different regions. In big cities like Moscow or St. Petersburg it's somehow manageable, though you are not safe from random beating in the bar. But in places like Chechnya there are a lot of cases when members of lgbtq+ community are killed and authorities purposefully ignore it. There is a a documentary film called Welcome to Chechnya (2020) about this.
I suspect that the reason for that is the same as Afghanistan: most of the people in Chechnya believe in Islam, including Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Republic. He is so notorious in his cruelty that even writing his name is kinda scary
Thank you so much for reporting from there!
I feel like the more eastern countries are so blindsided in media report over here in my case in Switzerland, that I am always glad to learn from the people who live in the countries I barely even know!
I value your info very much! ^^
Thanks for sharing your experience with us and raising our awareness ✨
Thanks for covering. I am also a queer Canadian and know how privileged I am to live here. I do fear it could shift as I observe how things are going in US. We also have a far right and the rhetoric coming out of Pierre Poilievre and Maxime Bernier make me sick. All the trolls that have rolled out of the wood work with the SOGI situation is yet another good example of how we must continue to have respectful, well-researched, compassionate conversations to bring awareness and change.
Thanks for joining our conversation 🌈
I'm a trans guy in England, lgbtq people do have a lot of rights however trans people are losing their rights cos of the prime minister.
Also, the NHS wait time is so long it leads people to take their own lives which is horrific.
Hate crimes are also increasing for trans people rapidly.
The UK is not the worst, which I'm grateful for, but it has a long way to go
It's not even specifically because of the prime minister it's just popular rhetoric today and the tories do what the tories do...
tories can stick it
Thanks for sharing your experience with us 🙏
I was briefly offended that Taiwan was shown as not supporting LGBT rights in the UN, because it is the most progressive country in Asia when it comes to that, but then I remembered that Taiwan isn't allowed to be an independent member in the UN and is instead grouped with China.
Definitely depends on where you are in the United States. Im increasingly thinking about open carrying because Im straight passing but my boyfriend is not. 🏳️🌈
I think concealed carry is safer.
Austrian here. Though I might not be the best source for this topic as I'm aroace and cis, but I'll just describe my impressions and the stuff my friends of different queer identities are going through. I can't really comment on the "real" trans experience here, though, because I don't have any close friends who are trans.
Currently, I live in the city for university and I really like it here and I do feel safe (but that might be because I don't look outright queer). But one of my more feminine looking queer guy friend has reported slurs being called at him when people thought he was being too intoxicated to realise/when they thought he was being an easy target. I was born in the countryside and spent the first half of my life there before moving and it is a weird place to be, I suppose. If asked, most people would say queer people don't bother them "as long as they don't shove it in your face" but then vote for the far-right party who is looking to illegalise same-sex marriage and ban gender affirming care (among others. They are also outright hostile when it comes to immigrants and women. You just gotta love the FPÖ, but to be fair, there have been much more far-right parties emerging during the pandemic and it is scary as fuck). So, yeah, politics have also developed in the strange direction of US politics. Instead of taking care of issues such as climate change and increasing social inequality, they make up new problems to scare the people and find easy "solutions" to lure in voters. And scarily, it's working.
And another thing that has happened is that a bunch of teenagers (I think they were onlx 14, 17 and 20) were planning an attack on Vienna Pride this June, with the intention to hurt or even kill people. They were fortunately arrested before the parade started but I was in a state of shock and disbelief for the next two days after I found out. I wasn’t planning on attending Vienna Pride because I live on the other side of the country, but one of my friends did. And the thought that I could have lost her is so scary, I didn’t think something like this could happen in my country.
Oookay, that was long, I'm sorry, I just had to ramble. So in short, I still feel like I'm in a safe place, but anti-lgbtq rethoric and far right politics are taking off because people are scared and politicians are using that to their advantage to win the next election. I can hope that it's just a fad that goes away quickly, but since it's working, I fear that the future, particularly for all of my trans siblings, is going to be much much scarier
Thank you for your insight. I've always seen Austria as a safe place for anyone, I was honestly shocked when I learned that it is not. I hope the situation gets better over there and in my country of Brazil, and I really hope to go or live there one day!
Trans person living next to you in Switzerland here. Our right-wing is starting to say things like "Transgenderism is just propaganda from the US and we need to stop it from spreading here, because it's endangering children" or "There is no social basis for a 'third' gender". We were already kind of behind on making progress - we only recently got gay marriage and adoption rights. We haven't gotten any progress on gender neutral options on forms and such... And now this anti Trans propaganda is starting. So I'm not very hopeful that we'll get those options. I guess we can just vote for supportive politicians, try to spread the message, then wait and see how it goes.
The queerphobia here also varies depending on where you live. I personally never experienced any outright discrimination (Got called the F and T slurs in primary school but that was just kids being stupid not even knowing what those words meant). My mom has had a pretty bad experience with a good friend when she told him about me tho.
@brunovb2650 In general, I would say Austria is a relatively safe place for queer people, particularly the cities. Of course, there are going to be assholes everywhere, but I generally feel safe. The issue are the right wing parties who noticed that the hateful propaganda Republicans in the US are using, work when it comes to gaining votes. So they're fearmongering and this works especially well with people who aren' familiar with this specific topic (this topic used to be migrants and, right now in particular, trans people). The situation is scary but I doubt that it'll escalate the way it did in the US. But still. No place is as safe or utopian as you'd expect it to be, but generally, I like it here a lot. The current development of politics might be scary, but particularly young people are determined to fight back against bigotry, so I'm hopeful for the future. I would love to welcome you here one day. Stay safe!
Thanks for your insight 👍
As an Albertan I felt the "more locally may vary" really strongly. I am fortunate that federally there has been as much success as there has been in providing protections, while also being extremely aware of how much the provincial party can still cause a lot of problems. Much love to our kin in more regressive places on this topic, I hope that a day will come when we do not need to fight for our right to exist.
Thanks for sharing your perspective with us ✨🍁
Hello. I am a Queer and Non-binary person living in the USA. I agree with your point that LGBTQ rights vary greatly by state. Supreme Court cases made homosexuality legal in every state in 2003 and made same-sex marriage recognized in 2015. . Outside of these two basic rights, LGBTQ equality varies greatly from state to state. I am lucky to be able to live in Illinois which is one of the best states for LGBTQ rights, relatively speaking. Although most areas in IL are conservative leaning, Chicago is very progressive and prevents the state from regressing on LGBTQ rights. Recently a lot of anti-trans hate has been flaring up. In my opinion, one of our major political parties, the Republican Party, likes to find a scapegoat to hate in order to mobilize their voter base. In the past, this scapegoat has been Communists, Muslims, Immigrants, etc. The Republican Party offers no real benefits to the average American so they make up culture war BS to shadowbox against to make them seem like they are doing something. Recently, trans people became their new punching bag leading to many times more anti-trans laws in the past two years or so. Its gotten so bad that some trans people and their families have been moving out of anti-trans states, a kind of state-to-state refugee crisis. Florida is by far the worst state for LGBTQ rights with some civil rights organizations arguing people should avoid that state if they can. Personally I really worry about my safety and the safety of other LGBTQ Americans. Right now my state is relatively safe but I don't know if that will last forever. I have considered the possibility of moving to Canada if LGBTQ rights in the USA get worse and I don't think I am the only LGBTQ American to consider this. Particularly, I worry about the more far-right, hard-line fascist elements gaining power.If USA becomes worse, Canada could have a refugee crisis of its own.
You probably know most of this information because you have covered this topic before, I just wanted to give my perspective.
it’s not just Republicans, though - many Democrats, both on state and federal levels, have done absolutely nothing to stop the erosion of our rights, and are just as complicit in the eradication of trans people as Republicans are
Thanks for sharing your perspective with us 🌈
philipines is alright. sure we cant get married but stleast we csn be together oeacefully exerpt for certain is religions😅😅😅😅
thanks for sharing with us ✨🤩
I'm bisexual from Finland. And we had here very good lgbt-rights.
France is probably one if not the best country for queer rights, just because anti-trans hate here also have a HUGE american accent, so it made a lot of people pro-trans out of spite of the yankees lmao i'm so proud of my people 💪
Merci d'avoir partagé avec nous! 🙏
Thanks for this! I'll be 40 at the end of November and the state of LGBTQ asttacks in the USA saddens me to no end! I felt so happy that I was alive to see same sex marriage become legal. However, the far right assult on basic human rights in the US, especially the rights of the LGBTQ community is at an unprecedented high! This is thanks in large part to the rather bigioted and outspoken ppl in the Trump MAGA cult, I mean movement. Its not only sad but really scary! I know these MAGA folks only account for about 1/3 of the US population. However, this means there are millions Americans on the far right who hate anyone who doesnt look or act like them. Again, scary shit!
✨🙏 Thanks for your comment and for providing us with your perspective on the US !
i am straight. but I support you and your rights
I live in Switzerland but was born in Germany and consume a lot of media.
In Switzerland it seems pretty fine. 3 years ago, there has been a law passed that incredibly eased the legal sex-changing process from needing a court judge to just walking into the office and asking for a document change. You still have to pay for the occurring effort but it is very manageable.
A few years before that we also managed to legalize gay marreage with about 65% voting yes which for Switzerland (a country who always votes no if in doubt) is a lot of yesses!
Germany also legalised gay marreage a bit less than a decade ago und just issued a law that also eases the legal sex-change. It is yet to be in action but I think we'll have that by the end of this year if I am not mistaken.
But we are moving to the right rn, to the point where I fear we might get a far-right government in the next legislatory period which would be a big loss in progress. Sadly the america-flavoured arguments on bathrooms, childrengrooming etc. are sadly here now aswell, even in just the conservative party (CDU).
So in short: Switzerland looks good, Germany aswell but that might change. Especially in terms of trans rights.
Socially I have been very closeted and I still am, since I already faced a gigantic amount of discrimination in the past, including regular violence for 3 years in school for being "too girly for a boy" and autistic.
I barely know anyone else who lives in Switzerland and had to go through something like this, so I see my case as the exception rather than the rule since I know quite a few transfems at this point (double-digit).
Generally from the european (swiss & german) point of view despite the 10+ years of discrimination I faced (my life is in my room ever since covid though, so it counts more from 2021 backwards) for being gender non-conforming and autistic, Switzerland is still one of the countries to choose aside from scandinavian countries like Norway or the Netherlands if you are LGBTQIA+ or neurodivergent.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us - very valuable insight! 🌈
As someone who is lesbian and has a lot of connections with Japan, and Japanese LGBT people, I can say that things are really complicated when it comes to how their society views and treats LGBT people.
I think that Japanese society in general is one where people are are expected to not stick out, and keep their business private, and so being LGBT or having a partner of the same sex is also just seen as one of those things that you do privately in your own home. I don't think that anyone is outwardly hostile to the concept of gay people, in the same way that Japanese people don't tend to be hostile to anyone who isn't harmful, but to many, the idea of actually meeting a gay person doesn't even cross their mind. The fact that people are socially conditioned to not be proudly out means that unless it's you or an immediate family member, you just aren't likely to know a gay person without seeking them out, because even if you had a gay friend or co-worker, they'd never talk about it.
I think that another aspect that exacerbates things is just how difficult it is to find places to actually meet LGBT people in the first place. Granted, I'm not particularly great at making friends even in Europe, but finding gay establishments in Japan feels outright cryptic. I managed to visit a few lesbian bars over there, which were honestly great experiences, but it took me quite a few attempts to locate one, since you'd only really know by looking it up online, as the bars themselves don't have any signage or iconography that would indicate that they are gay establishments, and even then, they were typically located in spots you wouldn't find if you weren't already familiar with the area, such as a bar in a small room down the 4th floor corridor of a building in an obscure alley.
I've noticed that LGBT tends to be not very well understood in Japan even among actual LGBT people. As a European, I'm not really the type to hide what I am, so many of my Japanese friends have responded to it with confusion or surprise, which make it clear just how little they understand of the topic, and how I'm likely the first openly gay person they'd ever met. I think the most interesting were the responses of other LGBT people, such as a close female friend who described to me the feelings she had that she was never able to describe or understand until that very conversation she had with me, in which I gave her the words and concepts to figure out that she was probably pansexual or demisexual. I also know another Japanese girl who didn't flinch at me mentioning being gay, and whilst she hasn't directly talked about her own sexuality, she does give every indication that she's probably interested in me. My aforementioned pansexual friend advised me that she's likely just as lost about her same-sex feelings if she has them, so I should just give her time to figure things out.
At no point did I ever feel like I was in danger in Japan for being openly gay, but I think that this general lack of understanding, lack of legal protections, and inability to marry someone I love are big reasons that I've been reluctant to make a life there, and am much more content in Europe. If I were to ever end up with a Japanese partner, I think that The Netherlands would be far better for us than Japan.
Very insightful comment! Thanks for sharing ✨
IMO if it isn't hurting anyone then its fine. But the second you start hurting people or harrasing them then its going too far. That goes for all lifestyles as well, for example, homphobia to the point of attacking members of the LGBTQIA+ community is going too far, and if you are so obsessed with LGBTQ+ rights that you start trying to take things from others based on the fact your in the community or something along those lines thats also too far.
I know you didn't mention us at all, but thanks for labeling Taiwan blue. We're the first in the entirety of Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, and we're proud of it.
Having come out of a dictatorship just 37 years ago, we understand the value of democracy and the importance of human rights.
A country will never propsper if prejudice and hatred permeates.
I live in Brazil, São Paulo to be specific, and it's very mixed. Althought we have a strong community support and are allowed to express ourselves, society's thinking about LGBT people still is horrible. Our country continues to be the one with the largest number of trans people killed, there are several cases of beating and other crimes. It can be safe for some depending on where you are, how you look. But it can also be very dangerous.
Thanks for sharing 🙏 very I insightful
Like France the anti American Canadian nationalism helps make us as progressive and pro LGBTQ as we are. Hope we continue this tradition. I remember I was more conservative back in the day and watched pragerU only to realize they hate our social safety net and spreading lies about our healthcare system. Been a social Democrat ever since lol and more and more progressive over time. One thing for foreigners never say for profit healthcare is better the public healthcare to a Canadian.
The UK is in general a good place for LGBTQ+ rights, and I'm very thankful that I live here, but there is still a lot of anti-lgbt sentiment, to the point that my boyfriend and I have been actively threatened while out together. Its also getting worse for trans rights, mostly due to the extended rule of the conservative party and the increasing push towards pandering to the older, daily mail reading demographic as that is the tories core cohort.
Thanks for sharing with us ✨
WOW What an important subject. I'm glad that we can take a break from world peace, price of food, and Justin Trudeau.
WOW
Nice shit brah
ha ha thanks 🙏
@@guihuppe no issue
The fact that you said "honor" with an "h" sound is so funny to me. I know that in French, the "h" is always silent, whereas in English it isn't. So then you decided to pronounce the "h" for this word, but it's actually silent too. It's mind-blowingly annoying, I know.
English is such a crazy language. Good lucky on your English-learning journey, my guy😂
Thanks for this observation on my accent. Hopefully, I pronounced the rest of my script to your liking. And I hope you enjoyed the content of the video too...
@@guihuppe sorry if my comment sounded rude, i meant no offence! I enjoy your videos and i always have.
My country is homophobic and I'm proud to be homophobic 🇴🇲🤜🤜🏳🌈🏳⚧
Edgey child. Go to your room
🇴🇲 FOR CONTEXT:
📊 Oman has an Equality Index of 6/100 and ranks #193 in the world.
⚖️ Homosexuality is illegal (imprisonment as punishment).