Sawatdee krap/Selamat pagi!
Well, it has been a couple weeks since I arrived in
Thailand, so perhaps this is a good time to introduce myself and my research
this summer (generously supported by a Sigur Center Grant for Asian Field
Research).
My name is Jamison Liang and I am currently in the middle
of my MA in Anthropology & International Development at George Washington. My
research focuses on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights
movement in Indonesia—particularly in Aceh province—where I look at the
intersection of international, national, and Islamic law and how they have been
applied to issues of gender and sexuality. Aceh is coming to an important
crossroads this year; the provincial legislature is debating how to formulate
its Islamic criminal bylaw (qanun jinayat), which could potentially criminalize
homosexuality. One of the central questions I am investigating this summer
concerns the influence of international development and human rights
organizations, ultimately asking how effective (or ineffective) a purely
rights-based argument is in producing societal change on the ground.
As advocacy for human rights of LGBT communities has
gained traction among international organizations, especially the United
Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Indonesian NGOs have followed suit,
adopting human rights-based rhetoric. Yet how do international actors and local
NGOs implement these abstract strategies, especially in areas where they appear
to contravene societal morals, religious beliefs, or local laws? What happens
when government officials and local leaders explicitly reject queer
communities? My research aims to answer this question by focusing on the
intersection of LGBT rights advocacy and international development initiatives
in Indonesia, noting how global LGBT rights policies are “translated” into
culturally appropriate and effective messages by local activists.
So, why am I in Bangkok? As it turns out, I am doing this
research while helping the United Nations Development Program Asia Pacific
Regional Center (UNDP APRC) with their project “Being LGBT in Asia: A
Participatory Review and Analysis of the Legal and Social Environment for LGBT
Civil Society in Asia.” I am largely in charge of helping write Indonesia’s
national report, though I am also assisting with the social media side of the
project, posting about LGBT-related news across the region in bahasa Indonesia
and English.
At the same time I am identifying people from various
international development and human rights organizations to interview in
Bangkok—the hub of the development field in Southeast Asia. Accordingly, these
individuals should be able to talk about how rights-based advocacy is practiced
at a regional and international level by tracing the flow of recommendations
from civil society to policy dialogues at the UN. To be sure, I remain critical
of how development agencies have historically interacted with “sexual/gender
minorities” solely through the lens of HIV—a discourse which I argue has
“medicalized” their identities by linking them to the HIV epidemic. While this
issue has rightfully opened up space in development to talk about sexuality and
gender more critically, it has also made it harder to see other social problems
as legitimate.
Once my research wraps up in Bangkok at the end of July,
I will head to Indonesia (Jakarta and Banda Aceh) for a spree of interviews
with CSOs and international NGOs. To be sure, there will be much to learn in
the coming months! In the meantime, if you’re interested in the Being LGBT in
Asia project, check out:
- Crowdmap: http://beinglgbtinasia.crowdmap.com
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lgbtinasia
- Instagram and Twitter: @beinglgbtinasia
Jamison Liang
MA Candidate in Anthropology & International Development
MA Candidate in Anthropology & International Development
Sigur Center 2013 Summer Grant for Asian Field Research
Site: Thailand and Indonesia
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