Political power by sexual orientation in Asia

By: V-Dem Staff
May 31, 2017


Therefore, the court gave parliament two years to amend existing laws or pass new laws.  If Taiwan’s parliament legalizes same-sex marriage it would be the first country in Asia do to so, a region where the LGBT community faces increasing persecution. This week’s graph will take a look at V-Dem’s Power distributed by sexual orientation variable in Taiwan and neighboring countries.

The Power distributed by sexual orientation variable measures to what extent political power is distributed according to sexual orientation, contrasting the political power of heterosexuals with the political power of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) members of the polity relative to their share of the population (as near as this can be estimated).

Comparing Taiwan with three other countries in the region – China, Japan, and Indonesia – we can see that Taiwan has currently the highest value among the countries. However, they are still on a level where LGBT members of the polity have less political power than heterosexual citizens. While Taiwan and Japan have seen progress in recent years, in both Indonesia and China little has changed over time for LGBT members. Both countries remain on a level where LGBT members have much less political power, or are entirely excluded from the polity, than heterosexual citizens.

To find out more about the distribution of political power by sexual orientation in Asia, or any other region, use our Online Analysis Tools at v-dem.net.