Hope for Myanmese gays living in a secret world
Myanmese gays must defy the law and a hostile culture to practise their sexuality, but see signs of hope in a changing country
Snapping a portrait of two men in traditional Burmese costumes, smiling in a sea of golden bowls and flowers, may seem relatively innocuous compared to the many historic steps Myanmar has taken in recent years.
The photo, which he posted on Facebook in October with a caption supporting same-sex marriage, received positive comments from hundreds of internet users in the region and was shared by some 1,000 more.
But it also sparked violent reactions in Myanmar, where homosexuality is a crime under Section 377 of its penal code, and where members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community face a mix of grudging tolerance and outright discrimination.
"I received hate messages and I even got phone calls like: 'I want to kill you,'" the British-trained Phone Myat Htoo said at his busy and spacious studio in Yangon. "But that's only a phone call, there was no action after that.
"[The responses to the photo] were a bit of both: some positive, some negative. But it's created a lot of heat here," he said.
Though not privy to the details of the ceremony, he said pre-wedding photo sessions were one of the ways to formalise such a union. "Many gay couples in Yangon, they live together - but by law, there's no such thing as a marriage between them whatsoever. So they just take a photo," Phone Myat Htoo said.
