Southeast Asian Community Blog

Vietnam Gay Marriage News Brings Hope, Uncertainty To Gay Vietnamese Americans

The older she gets, the harder it is for Diana Bui to hide her sexual orientation from her big Vietnamese family. At 29, she’s well past the traditional age for marriage, and she’s running out of excuses to explain her single status, not to mention her short, asymmetrical haircut. So far, she said, only her mother, her brother, and a cousin in Vietnam know she identifies as queer.

But this weekend, that might change. The Washington, D.C., resident is heading home to California for a family reunion, and she’s ready to talk with her extended family about a side of her life she hasn’t discussed since her early 20s, when she first realized she was attracted to women. After the recent news, the subject feels almost unavoidable.

In late July, to Bui’s shock, the Vietnamese government announced that it may change its position and recognize same-sex marriages as legal unions. On Sunday, more than a hundred activists biked through Vietnam’s capital, trailing rainbow-colored streamers and shouting, “Equal rights for gays and lesbians,” the Associated Press reported.

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