23/05/2026
Conducting LGBTQ+ research in Southeast Asia is never just an academic exercise. It is embodied, relational, emotional, and sometimes deeply risky work, both for us and for our careers.
In our recent publication in the Journal of Homosexuality, we used collaborative autoethnography to reflect on our own experiences of conducting LGBTQ+ research across Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Our reflections highlighted the structural barriers that shape this work: limited funding, mentorship, training, institutional support, and academic space for q***r research. In some contexts, doing LGBTQ+ research can also mark our CVs in stigmatizing ways, while institutions may hesitate to support work that is seen as socially or politically controversial. When LGBTQ+ research is supported, resources are often confined to public health, which can further narrow how LGBTQ+ lives are understood and reinforce harmful stereotypes.
Southeast Asian LGBTQ+ research is also often expected to fit Eurocentric theories, methods, and publication standards. As researchers, we have to negotiate the pressure to make our work legible within dominant Western academic frameworks, while also developing our own contextual voices, knowledge, and wisdom. We also have to navigate trust with LGBTQ+ communities, think carefully about community representation, and manage threats to our physical, psychological, and emotional safety.
For us, this paper is a collective reflection on the LGBTQ+ glass ceiling in Southeast Asian academia, and on the ongoing struggle to conduct ethical, situated, and community-accountable LGBTQ+ research in the region.
Read more about this paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00918369.2026.2676172
