ONE LITTLE MENTIONED legacy of the British Empire is the imposition of repressive legislation on homosexuality across the world. Nowhere is this more apparent than in South and South East Asia, where all ex-British colonies include harsh measures in their penal codes prohibiting 'carnal intercourse against the order of nature', frequently punishable by life imprisonment and/or flogging. A secondary offence of 'gross indecency between men', in the words of the infamous Labouchere amendment of 1885, is usually included too. REBECCA FLEMMING investigates. THE DRACONIAN LAWS in both the excolonies and the still British colony of Hong Kong contrast with the lack of legal sanctions against homosexual activity in neighbouring states. Countries which were ruled by Holland, Spain and the US such as Indonesia and the Philippines, have no specific legislation.
he precise contents of the penal code do not, of course, determine the overall status of lesbians and gay men in a particular state. There is fierce police repression in Indonesia against the flourishing lesbian bar culture in Djakarta and the gay community, and general 'public morality' laws are utilised in the Philippines. In contrast, there has effectively been a liberalisation of the law in India. Fledgling gay groups are developing in the major cities, particularly Bombay. Lesbians, active in the feminist movement for some time, are now also establishing their own organisation.
Failure
The failure of some imperialist powers to legis late on the matter does not mean they had an enlightened view on sexuality. Rather it is the British insistence on outlawing homosexual activity, wherever they planted the Union Jack, which must be explained.
In many cultures outside the industrialised West, the category of homosexual or lesbian had no meaning. Same-sex sexual activity was ever present, but occurred in the context of, and never excluded, a 'normal family life'.
Sexual relationships between samurai and ours had been celebrated in verse and prose in er al Japan and homosexual love in China had • = known. But there was no concept of the a : iesbian as a category distinct from Thus the argument that homosexuality or lesbianișm is a 'foreign' or ' white problem', has a grain of truth within it, despite its reactionary intent. The development of lesbian and gay communities in South and South East Asia has been inextricably bound up with the intervention of Western powers. But the processes of economic change, urbanisation, the establishment of a sex industry, all played a central role in the development of lesbian and gay communities in big cities.
The key factor propelling the embryonic gay movement forward in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand (where 'sex tourism', including by gay men is particularly prevalent) is HIV and AIDS. The spread of the disease has spurred the communities into action.
Wider issues
Groups have been established in Thailand, Singapore and in Malaysia. The Malaysian Ministry of Health quietly supports the Pink Triangle group in the country, despite the complete illegality of all homosexual activity. The groups are now beginning to address wider issues of legal and social reform.
It is the issue of legal reform which has created controversy and campaigning in Hong Kong over recent years. Both the island's Humanist Association and the gay 10% Club have been working for a change in Hong Kong's vicious laws on homosexuality.
A Bill proposing the removal of criminal penalties relating to homosexual acts committed in private by consenting adult males' and a gay age of consent at 21 is to be put to the Legislative Council later this month, and is expected to be passed. The death penalty would remain however for cases involving men under 21, though the Bill adds that "in "normal" circumstances, it is unlikely that proceedings would be taken. It is unclear what the future of Hong Kong's substantial lesbian and gay community will be after the Taking positive images on to the streets Chinese Goverment takes control in 1997.
The vast majority of these organisations are male, dealing with issues of central concern to gay men. A pattern generally found when lesbian and gay organisations are born, it changes as the groups grow and develop.
It is largely men who have the economic freedom to make sexual choices, and the social and political freedom to organise and campaign. The existence of a feminist movement, such as in India, makes a key difference to women's ability to come out and be active as lesbians.
Internationalism
All of this underlines the necessity for internationalism in the lesbian and gay movement in Britain, for solidarity with lesbians and gay men throughout the world. It is vital that this solidarity reaches outside the safe and well-trodden boundaries of Western Europe and North America. i wally importantly the West should not impose its own preconceptions on these developing move ments. The key to this is understanding their histories and struggles. No. 4 lone and
KEN LOACH is one of Britain's foremost film directors. His career spans such work as Kes and Cathy Come Home, onto the more recent Hidden Agenda. What links all his work is unwavering commitment to socialism. With the release of Hidden Agenda on video, Sean Tunney and John Lister talked to him about his work and the ideas that lie behind them. SO: Cathy Come Home was an agitational film wasn't it, widely credited for helping to launch Shelter? Loach: It was thereto make people angry rather than justupset. I did try to say that campaigning against homelessness did matter.
With Shelter, the two things were going side by side. There was a campaign, which Jeremy Sandford who wrote it was part of, and they both fed off each other.
_ Culture Ken Loach (centre) and crew on the set of his recent film Riff Raff