The ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC) is a regional network of LGBTIQ human rights defenders and civil society organisations working in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. The ASC is a unique regional membership-based Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans(gender), Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ) network with a specific mandate focusing on engaging the ASEAN integration mechanism. The objectives of ASC are:

• Raising awareness about the rights of persons discriminated on the basis of their Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and/or Sexual Characteristics (SOGIESC),
• Advocating for the integration of the rights of persons discriminated on the basis of SOGIESC into national and regional governmental bodies and policies,
• Expanding spaces for the leadership of Southeast Asian LGBTIQ human rights defenders within human rights networks and bodies, and
• Building and enhancing capacity and knowledge of human rights defenders in promoting and protecting the rights of persons discriminated on the basis of SOGIESC.

Since 2016, ASC has also supported local LGBTIQ organisations to engage in global human rights mechanisms at the United Nations, such as the Universal Periodic Review or other human rights treaty bodies dealing with issues around SOGIESC. To engage UN Mechanisms is part of their “boomerang advocacy strategy”, which means that obtaining political gains in more favourable spaces such as the UN will also have an influence over ASEAN since LGBTIQ human rights are inherently part of the global human rights framework.

ASC serves LGBTIQ communities across 11 countries in Southeast Asia (including Timor Leste) with different levels of collaboration and engagement. ASC’s guiding principles are Democracy, Accountability, Substantive Equality, Inclusivity and Diversity, Intersectionality, Self-determination and Bodily Autonomy and Integrity, and Diversity of Tactics. Such principles also include a consultative and collaborative movement building at the local level and people-to-people solidarity at the regional level.

Promoting Inclusive Regionalism in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) project promotes the creation of inclusive political spaces for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans(gender) and Intersex (LGBTI+) persons in ASEAN by using cultural strategies for advocacy to advance alternative and people-centered regionalistic narratives in Southeast Asia. The project produces and collates historical and contemporary cultural materials that affirm LGBTI+ persons from various communities across Southeast Asia. Collection of these cultural materials is the starting point of forming an LGBTI+ collective memory as well as innovative instruments for advocacy.

The project focuses on: organising discussions on LGBTI+ perspectives on alternative regionalism and regional solidarity; producing historical-cultural narratives inclusive of LGBTI+ persons in Southeast Asia to engage ASEAN officials, and organising a Queer Festival as part of the annual ASEAN Civil Society Conference in 2020. The project engages a broad range of stakeholders which include; LGBTI+ visual and literary artists, cultural workers, researchers, social scientists, academics, religious leaders, educators and allied practitioners. Furthermore, the project supports transnational or cross-country collaborations among grassroots LGBTI+ activists.

The project tests a new cultural model of advocacy that complements ongoing collective efforts to claim legal rights of LGBTI+ persons in the region. These cultural instruments help to counter extremist propaganda which justifies the marginalisation and persecution of people based on sexual orientation, gender identity and/or sexual characteristics (SOGIESC) and provides values-based references for communities to encourage the full acceptance of LGBTI+ people in society.