Your gold you lavish where it goes to waste You suffer as you stray and lose your heart,Īdore the wrong one, and misplace your love. Gay visitors can help to set a good example by observing the local laws and customs.Ī poem by Vietnam's preeminent gay poet of the 20th century, Xuan Dieu Prostitution is illegal as is the payment of money for sexual services. Homosexuality is not a crime in Vietnam, but blackmail is, so do contact the Police if you are threatened by a scam artist. In 2015 Vietnam lifted the official ban on same-sex marriage, although it has not yet conferred legal protections to same-sex spouses that it gives to straight spouses.
From famous poets, celebrities, and party leaders, gays have, of course, always been an integral thread in the fabric of Vietnam. Although state-run media temporarily declared that homosexuality was a 'social evil' in 2002, officials quickly corrected those with ignorant, superstitious views and the Communist Youth Newspaper carried a story about homosexuality that same year stating 'some people are born gay, just as some people are born left-handed.' Gay venues openly exist and sport official MSM safer sex materials, the government put on an exhibition of photographs called Gay Life which toured all major universities, and the country recognized its first same-sex domestic partner of a diplomat with an official diplomatic visa. Advisory: There have never been laws against homosexual activity in Vietnam.
