Vietnam’s Ministry of Health recommends gay marriage is legalised without delay

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Vietnam’s Deputy Health Minister is expected to recommend that gay marriage be legalised during a speech reviewing marriage and family law today.

Nguyen Viet Tien will deliver the speech in Hanoi, Thanh Nien News reports. He will say that gay people have the same rights as everyone else to love, be loved and marry.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice began consulting on gay marriage last July, but Gay Star News revealed in February that a vote on the matter was likely to be delayed until 2014.

Director of LGBT rights at the Institute for Studies of Society, Economic and Environment (iSEE), Le Quang Binh told Gay Star News that although the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health are supportive of same-sex marriage, it may not get enough votes when a law is submitted to the National Assembly of 500 delegates from across the country.

Le said that many National Assembly delegates have little understanding of the issues around LGBT rights.

Last week Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice said they would scrap fines that have previously been imposed on same-sex couples who are caught getting married.