Happy Rainbow Project launched for LGBT community

Besides the government's efforts, many young people have joined in a project to support the LGBT community in Vietnam.

It’s never been easy for LGBT people to come out of the closet. Fear of social stigma and family disapproval are barriers that hinder them from living as their true selves.

"So many people in the LGBT community can’t get over the feeling of being marginalised. But our guests here today don’t care about the social stigma. They are living the way they want. There are many choices you can make. Why don’t you be more positive?", Nguyen Ngoc Tu, Director of Happy Rainbow Project, said.

Thinking more positively is a good way to change the perception of the community. That’s the message that the members in the Happy Rainbow Project delivered on the opening day. Many celebrities from Thailand and Vietnam joined in the project and shared their experiences.

"Our doctors can perform high-level medical techniques. The Vietnam Association of Pediatric Surgery also assures that they can do this kind of operation. They have already performed sex change operations for young children born with no clearly-defined gender. The operations for young children are more complicated than for adults. Therefore, we strongly believe that sex change operations can be performed successfully in Vietnam", Nguyen Truong Nam, Director of Integrated Data Center, Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Health, said.

The approval of the Civil Code which allows sex changes will take effect in 2017. It is expected to help end discrimination against transgender people. There is still a long way to go, but theLGBT people have always tried to improve the community as a whole.