Gays seek refuge in Cambodia slum

Around 100 gay men have fled to a shanty town in Cambodia’s capital city to seek refuge from the country’s police.

Louise McFetridge

news.PinkPaper.com
Monday, 15 November 2010

via CAAI

Around 100 gay men have fled to a shanty town in Cambodia’s capital city to seek refuge from the country’s police.

That’s the claim made by international news organisation, The Global Post. They say the poor slum of Boeung Kak 2 in Phnom Penh has become Cambodia’s first gay town.

Boeung Kak 2, which is also home to longtime residents, have seen an influx of approximately 100 new arrivals over the last several years. Almost all of them are homosexual men. According to The Global Post’s recent report these men live lives of “shocking desperation”, often sleeping during the day so they can work in sleazy nightclubs at night with some turning to prostitution.

Every month more newcomers arrive and supplant its longtime residents. It represents the difficulties that lie ahead for homosexuals in Phnom Penh and their struggle for acceptance and equality.

The traditional neighbours were baffled, and sometimes frightened by the swelling number of openly gay Khmer joining the village.

“We’re scared that more [homosexuals] will keep coming here and make more terrible activities back there,” said Srey Oun, 48. “Everyone is scared like me. Khmer culture isn’t changing, but the people are.”

Since 2004, the number of “out” homosexuals in Phnom Penh has exploded from around 900 to approximately 10,000 today, according to nongovernmental organisations that track the city’s gay community.

Last March, Prime Minister Hun Sen criticised Cambodia’s reputation as a destination for sex tourism, it was reported. Soon after, police closed brothels and karaoke bars across the capital, where many transgender people worked and lived. As a result many of the homosexual men headed to the slums of Beoung Kak 2.

“If we’re not with each other, we’re scared everyone will look down on us or beat us,” said Kong Chan Rattna, 24, among eight fellow transgender homosexuals. “Together, we can have happiness — we can go anywhere. Nothing’s a problem.”

Photo Boeng Kak lake, Phnom Penh, by Satbir Singh.