When the first case of COVID-19 was discovered in Myanmar in late March, quarantine centers were set up at sites across the country. People arriving in a city, such as migrant staff returning home, had to quarantine at their local centre for 21 days. .
One of the first other people to volunteer at the quarantine center in Pyay City, a guy named Min Min. Like other centers across the country, this is in a school that was redesigned for the pandemic.
The approximately 20 volunteers were divided into two groups. The “outer circle” dealt with external matters, such as coordinating donations, purchasing food, and registering newcomers. The volunteers of the “inner circle” distributed food to the other people of the center, took out the garbage, cleaned clean.
“The demanding situations we faced as volunteers were like any other center,” says Min Min, who volunteers in the “inner circle. “”There was a shortage of non-public protective equipment. N-95 masks were rare. it had to be reused. “
Min Min was afraid to face some other challenge: the disdain and rejection of the other people at the center. Myanmar is subject to strict gender roles and Min Min is transgender.
But, he says, “I was lucky that everyone knew me in the city and accepted me for who I am and accepted what I gave. “I mingled freely with the occupants of the middle and even hung my sarongs with other men’s clothes.
In Burmese society, families separate dirty laundry not by color but by the gender of the person wearing it. In fact, it is believed that women’s underwear causes a man to lose his “aura” or masculine power. From other men it was a sign of uncommon acceptance.
In the conservative countryside of Myanmar, Min Min achieved what other LGBTIQ people can only dream of: she supported her identity. However, he says, several gay men have been harassed by others who are uncomfortable with their “effeminate” behavior.
“When the pandemic hit Myanmar, the LGBTIQ network did its part by taking to the streets, distributing masks, disinfectant gel and school leaflets,” said Htike Htike of the Asia Foundation, who is also an LGBTIQ rights activist. This is a school role that some had taken on before, doing public education about HIV or other topics. “They wanted to show that they were one with the people. “
The stay-at-home order is complicated for many members of the LGBTIQ community. Some live with their families of origin or have left but have nowhere to go yet to return home. Their acceptance at home is largely due to their strong income, however, as the closure meant a loss of jobs and income, they were again shunned and stressed.
Many other LGBTIQ people were expelled by their families, and some found employment and were accepted in sectors such as good looks and lifestyle. They built houses with their friends or partners. But there was danger here, too. “with their partners they have started to face an increase in domestic violence,” says Aung Myo Min, executive director of Equality Myanmar. “Desperate for income, some have sought out sex workers, violating curfews and sneaking out at night, falling victim to additional violence. or being harassed by the police.
The legal prestige of the network is bleak. ” There is nothing in the law that protects other LGBTIQ people,” says Aung. Section 377 of Myanmar law criminalizes homosexual sexual relations. There is no gender-neutral definition of rape in the law. When cases of online violence are reported to the police, they are ignored. Transgender women are not identified as women. Transgender men also face discrimination, but they have some legal protections because they are considered women. Myanmar’s recent National Human Rights Commission talks about protecting women, and only women, from cyberbullying. For other trans people, however, taking credit for those protections means denying their gender identity. Some trans people take hormone therapy, but they don’t. Regulated; the closest position to undergo sex reassignment surgeries is in neighboring Thailand.
But those disorders are the only thing that defines the community.
“Around the world, as here in Myanmar, LGBTIQ people deserve not to be seen as victims, but as drivers of change,” said Nicolas Burniat, UN Women Country Representative in Myanmar. 19 crises. Society cannot simply settle for their contribution when it suits them or discriminate against those who oppose them the rest of the time. It is imperative that the rights of other LGBTIQ people are respectable during this crisis and beyond and that their expressed wishes are taken into account in COVID-19 reaction efforts. “
UN Women is working with UNFPA, UNAIDS and other UN agencies, as well as local organizations in Myanmar, for the country’s LGBTIQ community, especially as COVID-19 has disrupted daily life. With just over 300 cases reported and only a handful of deaths. Myanmar has done relatively well, thanks in large part to the strict quarantine, which more than 30,000 people across the country have endured. The Min Min center and many others have ceased operations. The struggle continues.
“The UN is here to help the LGBTIQ community,” Burniat says. Sometimes, UN aid is symbolic, such as when it flew the rainbow flag on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. Other times, assistance is convenient, such as when UN agencies coordinate to protect the human rights of LGBTIQ people. A recent UN-sponsored online convention brought together organizations involved in human rights during the pandemic, and Min Min and other activists spoke.
“COVID-19 does not discriminate based on your race, religion, gender or sexuality,” says Min Min. “I volunteered because it’s the right thing to do with humans. I only ask that we be treated the same way through society. “.
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