Southeast Asian LGBTQ+ Research Network
Southeast Asian LGBTQ+ Research Network
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1. Developing Culture-centred LGBTQ+ Research in Southeast Asia through Storytelling
1. Developing Culture-centred LGBTQ+ Research in Southeast Asia through Storytelling
Funded by SEAIP in 2024/5, the project comprises two research components. The first is a collaborative autoethnography among core group members of the network, aimed at an in-depth exploration of our challenges and strategies for navigating Eurocentric, cis/heteronormative institutions and research landscapes. The second is a survey conducted with individuals working towards LGBTQ+ equity in Southeast Asia to identify priorities for research and intervention in the region. The findings are currently being analysed and will be made public once they are ready for dissemination. Publications from the project can be downloaded from this Google folder.
Key publications:
Tan, K., Liem, A., Pamoso, A. H. G., Trinh, V. D. M., Bin Ibrahim, M. A., & Sakunpong, N. (2026). An exploratory mapping LGBTQ+ research and intervention priorities in Southeast Asia (2025–2035). Psychology & Sexuality, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2026.2673535
Bin Ibrahim, M. A., Pamoso, A. H. G., Truong, Q., Liow, J. W., Delos Santos, J. J. I., Ratanashevorn, R., Ojanen, T. T., Htike, N. L., Hastuti, L. W., Liem, A., & Tan, K. (2026). “It felt like walking in the dark”: A collaborative autoethnography on the challenges of conducting LGBTQ+ research in Southeast Asia. Journal of Homosexuality, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2026.2676172
Trinh, V. D. M., Ibrahim, M. A. B., & Tan, K. (2026). Challenges in advancing LGBTQ+ equity and research in Southeast Asian countries: A brief report. Sexuality, Gender & Policy, 9(3), e70056. https://doi.org/10.1002/sgp2.70056
2. Kami Survey: Malaysian LGBTQ+ Mental Health Survey
2. Kami Survey: Malaysian LGBTQ+ Mental Health Survey
Kami Survey is a large-scale study launched in late 2023 to assess the prevalence of mental health issues and access to the social determinants of mental health among LGBTQ+ people in Malaysia. It received more than 700 valid responses, and publications from the research team covering areas such as mental health disparities, mental healthcare, media harm, and the harms of conversion practices, can be downloaded from this Dropbox link. The project received funding from the Williams Institute, UCLA.
3. Queer Belonging, Mobility and Kinship in Contemporary Vietnam
3. Queer Belonging, Mobility and Kinship in Contemporary Vietnam
This ongoing research programme explores how LGBTQ+ Vietnamese negotiate belonging, kinship, care, and emotional life across mobility trajectories within and beyond Vietnam. Drawing on narrative inquiry and affect-informed approaches, the project examines how sexuality is lived through family relationships, educational migration, homecoming, obligation, aspiration, and everyday negotiations of visibility and authenticity. Rather than approaching queer lives primarily through frameworks of identity disclosure or liberation, this body of work foregrounds relational forms of belonging and the everyday practices through which queer individuals sustain connections across places, generations, and social worlds, with particular attention to intra-Asian mobility, rural–urban migration, queer homecomings, and the emotional dimensions of family life in Vietnamese and Southeast Asian contexts.
Key publications:
Thinh, M. P. (2026). Belonging and care in queer homecomings: kinship and emotional geographies in Vietnam. Gender, Place & Culture, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2026.2645552
Thinh, M. P. (2026). Affective belonging and negotiated authenticity: Vietnamese gay men navigating sexuality, kinship and emotional health in Thailand. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 28(5), 630–642. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2025.2554719
4. HEARTS Research Project: Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children and Youth with Diverse SOGIESC in Thailand
4. HEARTS Research Project: Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children and Youth with Diverse SOGIESC in Thailand
This project conducted an online survey (n=3,094) and online interviews (n=38) on the mental health and wellbeing among 15-24-year-olds in Thailand in 2022. The project drew on minority stress theory and a socio-ecological model to examine how both negative experiences (e.g., experiences of violence, discrimination, and pressure to attempt changing one’s identity) and positive factors (e.g., social support and resilience) influence mental health among children and youth in diverse circumstances. The project was commissioned by Save the Children Thailand in 2021 as a part of its broader HEARTS (Highlighting Equality and Respect Towards all SOGIESC) project. The project was conducted in collaboration between Save the Children Thailand and researchers from Thammasat and Srinakharinwirot Universities. Researchers from other universities have later joined in to conduct additional analyses based on the project’s datasets for further publications.
Key publications:
Chan, R. C. H., Ojanen, T. T., Lam, M. S., Freeman, C., Kittiteerasack, P., Sakunpong, N., Sopitarchasak, S., Suparak, P., Thongpibul, K., Tiansuwan, K. (2026). Sexual orientation and gender identity and expression change efforts among gender and sexually diverse youth: Associations with internalized stigma and depression symptoms. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-026-01341-6
Ojanen, T. T., Freeman, C., Kittiteerasack, P., Sakunpong, N., Sopitarchasak, S., Thongpibul, K., Tiansuwan, K., & Suparak, P. (2023). Mental health and well-being of children and youth with diverse SOGIESC in Thailand. Save the Children Thailand. https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/study-report-mental-health-and-well-being-of-children-and-youth-with-diverse-sogiesc-in-thailand/
5. Marriage Equality Law and Psychosocial Health in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adults in Thailand
5. Marriage Equality Law and Psychosocial Health in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adults in Thailand
This project has sought to document the psychosocial health of LGBT adults in Thailand longitudinally before and after a marriage equality law was passed in 2024. Three waves of data collection using an online survey took place immediately before (n=291) and after (n=110) the Thai parliament’s decision on the law as well as one year after the decision (n= 90). The project drew on the concept of structural stigma, and focused on the role of negative messages and social support in shaping loneliness and hope. Qualitative data were also collected using the survey to document experiences and thoughts of the participants related to the passage of marriage equality in Thailand. The study was supported by a grant from Santa Clara University.
Research Team:
Chongzheng Wei (Santa Clara University), Rattanakorn Ratanashevorn (Lewis and Clark College), and Timo T. Ojanen (Thammasat University)
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