The other men were allowed to call their families to bail them out, but police told him he would have to wait much longer to do so because of his sexual orientation. Then he was singled out by an officer who demanded to know why he was gay, before slapping him. “He is gay,” the officer told his colleagues as he pointed at Khin Maung Htun, “so arrest him too.”Īt the police station, he was made to kneel down with the other men as police kicked them. But one of the police officers happened to know some acquaintances of his and recognised his face. The brawl had nothing to do with him he had not even realised it was going on.
Yangon, Myanmar – Khin Maung Htun, a gay man in Myanmar, was standing on the street one night last year scrolling through his phone when police showed up to arrest some men who had been fighting nearby.
