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Cambodia supports same-sex marriage, government spokesperson
Cambodia supports its LGBTI citizens and gay marriage, a government spokesperson has said.
Minister of State Phay Siphan made the comments Wednesday (23 September) in response to Nepal’s new constitution, which expressly bans discrimination against ‘sexual and gender minorities.’
The charter is the first in Asia to enshrine the rights of LGBTI citizens, but Siphan said Cambodia has already gone further than that.
‘Cambodian society does not discriminate against LGBT people. It is only individuals who do so,’ the Khmer Times quoted him as saying.
‘No Cambodian laws discriminate against them, and nothing is banning them from loving each other or getting married.’
However, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) paints a very different picture of life for LGBTI people in the Southeast Asian country.
‘LGBT Cambodians face discrimination and abuse due to their SOGI, both at the hands of the State and within society in general,’ it said in a statement.
‘This is due in large part to the legal framework, which does not specifically protect LGBT people, failing to include SOGI in the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination. This impacts the way in which LGBT Cambodians are seen by society and contributes to fueling discrimination and marginalization.’
The group expressed its delight at Nepal’s new constitution and called on the Cambodia government to pass similar laws.
‘I share my sincere delight with the Nepalese nation and its peoples for adopting a constitution which provides for protection of LGBT rights,’ said CCHR’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Project Coordinator Nuon Sidara.
‘Nevertheless, this development also provides a vivid reminder that similar protections are not currently afforded to Cambodian LGBT people and I urge the RGC [Royal Government of Cambodia] to immediately take measures to introduce laws to remedy this and which provide equality for LGBT people and prohibit discrimination on the basis of SOGI.’
The post Cambodia supports same-sex marriage, government spokesperson appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/cambodia-supports-same-sex-marriage-government-spokesperson/
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