VietNamNet Bridge – Love of gays often ends very quickly, not because gays are unfaithful but because their love is not accepted by the society. They love by all their heart but they know that love will go to nowhere, because one of them will have to get married with a girl.



Though the Vietnamese society is getting opener but homosexuals are still discriminated and seen as something bad. In order to make the society to better understand about homosexuals, the community of Vietnamese homosexuals have organized a photo exhibition entitled Khoanh Khac Cuoc Doi (Moments in Life).

The exhibition, opened on November 21 at 45 Trang Tien Street, displays 120 portraits of gay men.

Photos under the heading Who am I and Love provide visitors with a peak into the identity and love stories of over 20 men who took part in the project. Through these photos, the men share memories of their family and the pressures they experience in their daily lives. HIV prevention is also touched upon in the exhibit.

In the opening ceremony, Clair Pierangelo, representative of the US Embassy, said: "I encourage each of you to reflect on what you see, and to think about what each of us can do to bring about equality in our personal relationships as well as society."

The exhibition is one of the activities to support the gay community in Ha Noi, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, HCM City and An Giang organised by the Center for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population. It aims fight discrimination and brings voice to an often silenced population.

The exhibition will run until Friday, November 25.

Below are some photo stories told at the exhibition:







The picture on the right is the self-portrait of Trung, 21, a member of the Hai Dang Club
 for gays, which Trung wants to expose. Trung loved a man who is one year old older
than him but their relationship last for only one year because the other man is about to
marry a woman. “Love among gays often ends very quickly because they cannot live
together. They love by all their heart but they do not know about the future,” Trung said.





“Mentioning love of gays, people often think about sex only. But it is not only sex.
For gays, love is sometimes very simple: cooking a cuisine for their lovers, organizing
 ‘secret’ parties when their families are absent from home,” says R&F, nickname of a
member of a gay group in HCM City. In the photo is sushi prepared by gays.






Like other young couples, gays also get on the Long Bien Bridge to “lock” their hearts
together though deeply in their hearts they know that their relationship would end very soon.






“The ending of homosexual love affairs is always break-up,” said Hung, over 70, in Hanoi.
Hung still lives alone and tries to live with his self, trying to make the community
understand that gays also live very well.












“Every time I miss him, I go to a coffee shop to order a glass of juice for me and a cup
of ice coffee for him as we used to order before,” a gay from Hai Phong city said.






Many gays marry women under the pressure of their families and society. Lam is one of them
but his marriage was unhappy. The day his wife went away, Lam burnt his wedding photos.

























PV