Changing Social Attitudes Towards Lgbt In Vietnam

Abstract

This paper attempts to characterize the transformation of social attitudes towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Vietnam over the past decade since the establishment of civil society organizations in the late 2000s. With substantial rise in LGBT representation in media, I take advantage of media sources to point out the causes of social attitudes change towards the LGBT community in Vietnam over the past decade, characterized by the interplay of social activism, political change and media effect. This paper finds that social attitudes on LGBT issues in the last decade have been changing in a more positive and open direction to this community, manifesting the normalization of homosexuality. However, heteronormativity still exists in parallel with the normalization of homosexuality in Vietnam.