For example, the former USA Ambassador to Vietnam, Ted Osius is openly gay and was not shy about posing with his husband and baby. We even have a growing gay scene in Saigon and Hanoi.Īlso, more visibility of successful LGBTQ persons in the media helps society see us as something normal and positive rather than as something wrong or an illness. Today, of course, all that has changed, especially with the advent of Grindr and all the other gay dating apps over the past decade. At best, gay guys would seek each other out via well-known cruising spots or by friends of friends. Back in those days, the Internet as we know it today simply didn't exist and there were no queer hangouts around. It was quite hard when I was younger because traditional Catholic Vietnamese society was not always so open and supportive toward gays. “you better clean up your room if you wanna find a good husband!!” What's it like growing up gay in Vietnam? She's always been accepting of me being gay and we always make jokes about finding husbands. For example, she now worries about me growing old alone without anyone to care for me in my old age. I think my mother, her main concern is my safety well-being and most of all my happiness in life.
