Perspectives of Vietnamese Facebook users towards the LGBT Parade expressed under posts

about Hanoi Pride Parade 

HOANG Thi Hanh and NGUYEN Hong Hanh

Abstract

LGBT people are usually framed as a social or clinical disease, abnormality, or in Asian contexts, as
an anti-traditional negative trend imported from the West. Such perceptions seriously affect LGBT
people's equal access to employment, housing, medical services, and well-being. This study explores
Vietnamese Facebook users' perspectives on LGBT Pride Parade when publicly discussed on the
Facebook platform. Qualitative data analysis was applied to 915 comments under two posts about
Hanoi Pride Parade on Hóng Chuyện Hollywood and LGBT Việt Nam. While more than half of the
comments express the support of this LGBT social movement, prejudices are found in the other
comments. Ideas in opposing remarks appeal to normativity and heteronormativity to trivialize self-
pride and LGBT rights, justify hatred and discrimination, and demand assimilation. Supporters
explain the underlying message of the Hanoi Pride parade and reveal the prejudices that LGBT
people still face in contemporary society. Paradoxically, while expressing supportive attitudes
towards the Pride Parade, the commenters otherize protestors, attribute differences in attitudes to
backwardness, and appeal to and reinforce regional prejudices. This has produced a circle of
prejudices between supporters and objectors, creating a polarization of viewpoints, which may
become obstacles in fighting for equality for the LGTBQ+ in Vietnam.

Background

LGBT in Vietnam 

Homosexuality is not criminalized in Vietnam, and LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender) was not paid attention to, not in the public's awareness, generally tolerated, and not
explicitly mentioned in the law until recent decades. However, when first mentioned in the Law on
Marriage and Family in 2000, same-sex unions and marriages were banned (National Assembly of
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam [NASRV], 2000). The ban was lifted in 2014 after certain
movements and actions of the community; nevertheless, same-sex marriage is not yet recognized by
the state (NASRV, 2014). 

Currently, the prospects of LGBT are not too negative if observed on the surface. For example,
members of the LGBT community can confidently appear on TV, shown in movies, and at festivals;
gay, lesbian, and transgender people receive more recognition from society. Certain social
movements have been organized to break the stereotypes and prejudices about the LGBT community
and support LGBT people. In 2008, the project "For a Positive Image of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender (LGBT) people in Vietnam," organized by the Institute for Studies of Society,
Economics and Environment (iSEE), received great attention from society. It became an initial
achievement of the LGBT community (Horton et al. 2015). Later, more social movements started to
rise, namely the Legislative Provisions and Community Viewpoints Workshop in 2013 and a series
of Pride Parades starting in 2012. On August 3 , 2022, the Ministry of Health launched a dispatch
rd

numbered 4132/BYT-PC (Ministry of Health, 2022), stressing that LGBT is not a disease and that it
de-pathologizes LGBT identities. The dispatch also calls for an equal, respectful, non-discriminatory,
and non-stigmatizing attitude towards LGBT people in providing other medical services. This can be
seen as a big step forward for the LGBT movement in Vietnam. 
 However, a closer look at the LBGT community's life reveals a different, complex picture in
which prejudices and discriminations create social constraints that maintain violence and inequality
and hinder LGBT from coming out. LBGT people are reported facing discrimination even from
families, unfriendly and hostile working environments, housing and medical services, high levels of
physical violence, verbal abuse and sexual harassment in educational settings, and sensationalized
and stereotypical representations in the media (Luong & Pham, 2015; UNDP, USAID, 2014). Many
still live in closets due to sexual violence and homosexuality stigma (Hershow et al., 2021); their
self-esteem is severely influenced due to the perception of homonegativity and internalized
homonegativity (Nguyen & Angelique, 2017). Due to dominant sociocultural norms and the pressure
from the patrilineal family regime, some even resort to marrying heterosexual partners and starting a
family (Faludi, 2016; Horton & Rydstrøm, 2019). To enhance the well-being of the LBGT people,
much still needs to be done to enhance visibility and improve the perceptions of the general public
and the workings of related institutions. The Pride Parade is one such organized effort. 

Pride Parade

The Pride Parade originated from the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York when gay people stood up
for their rights and identity and were proud of it. Since 1970, Pride Parades have been annually
celebrated in many countries with features influenced both by American origin and marked by local
cultures, including the rainbow flags, the expressive clothing and bodies, bikes and roller skates, and
displays of emblems from various socio-cultural and religious groups, demanding, promoting
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights and achievements (Lundberg, 2007). With
Pride Parades, "new discourses of pride, defiance, and visibility came to dominate public gay and
lesbian political landscapes eventually" (Johnston, 2005, p. 4). This social movement and its new
discourses not only provide the LGBT community an opportunity for social visibility but also
enhance social connection and function as a catalyst for changes and a celebration of not just sexual
but many other forms of diversity (Brickell, 2000; Lundberg, 2007). 

The reactions of the authorities and public to the Parades vary depending on social, cultural,
religious, and political grounds, ranging from "hate, anger, loathing, abjection, love, tolerance, or
just indifference" (Lundberg, 2007, pp. 174-175). According to Johnston (2005), the parades create a
"paradoxical space" (p. 123), empowering and supporting the LBGT community on the one hand,
subjecting them to social abuse and exclusion on the other. Though the Pride parades are encouraged
by New York and Stockholm's politicians and citizens, the Pride parades provoke great hostility
from the public and local authorities in some other places (Lundberg, 2007). In Auckland, they were
described as "excessive, grotesque, and sleazy, and not infrequently injurious to health" (Brickell,
2000, p. 167). Many parades, such as those in Zagreb, Mexico, Rome, or Moscow, have been
opposed due to political beliefs and traditional values (Johnston, 2005).  

Hanoi Pride Parade

The first Pride Parade -Viet Pride, was organized in 2012 in Hanoi with the motto "Proud to be
different" organized by a Fulbright scholarship recipient inspired by the international LGBT Pride
movement, especially the Pride Parade in Sweden in 2021 that she attended. It ran a film screening,
presentations of research, and activities attended by about 350 people, and a bike rally attended by
about 150 people (Oosterhoff et al., 2014). The Pride Parades were then organized annually and
spread to more and more provinces in the following years, each year with different mottos such as
"Strive with Pride" in 2013 in 12 provinces; "Spread my Wings" in 2015 in 25 provinces. By 2016,
Pride Parades were organized in 35 provinces, more than half of the country's provinces. In
September 2019, Hanoi Pride Parade marked Hanoi's eight-year of organizing this LGBT event with
more than 1000 participants, including both Vietnamese and expats, sponsored and supported by 12
organizations (VTV News, 2019), attended by ambassadors from other countries, including from
British, American and the Nordic embassies. The event aimed to convey the spirit of happiness and
pride via the theme "I Am Also a We." This event comprised a series of seven-day activities from the
16th to the 22nd. On the first four days, exhibitions, talk shows, and workshops were held to provide
people with a better understanding of the LGBT community. The following days were for seminars
and art performances where LGBT people could share their research, activities, and talents. The last
day was celebrated with walking and cycling parades.

Before Pride, during the 1990s and 2000s, most mainstream media either sensationalized
homosexuals or wrote about them as being sick and weird, negatively influenced the trendy Western
behaviors, and tried to "educate" young children to overcome themselves to lead a "normal"
(heterosexual) life, or warned them not to be affected or "infected" by such unhealthy trend (Khuat et
al., 2009). Since the first Pride Parade, the media have reported the messages delivered by the events
in an explicitly positive light despite some implicit social stigma about the LGBT still found in other
news reports. Significant legal changes were achieved during those years: same-sex weddings were
allowed in 2014; transgender people could change their gender in legal documents from 2015 if
evidence of surgery is provided though same-sex marriages were not yet recognized. The changes in
the media and political landscapes, though not yet fully satisfactory and still need fighting for, appear
to be positive and are projected to be more positive in the coming years. 

Positive changes in the political arena and the media landscapes are important because such forces
can help build or break the stigma and discrimination the LGBT suffers. However, the prejudices
held by the public and the families are a less important force that the LGBT have to cope with. We
need to explore whether public perceptions change in a positive light along with movements such as
the Pride Parade. The new media, or social media, including Facebook, allows interaction,
discussion, and the audience's voice offering a site for investigating public perceptions. After the
Hanoi Pride Parade was organized on September 22nd, 2019, the news about the parade attracted
many Vietnamese users' attention and created debates when they were updated on some Facebook
fan pages. This research explores the perspectives of Vietnamese Facebook users on Hanoi Pride
Parade posts expressed in Facebook comments. 

Literature review

LGBT term

Even though the current term LGBTQI+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex
plus) is used in official documents of such organizations as the United Nations (UN) and World
Health Organization (WHO) to refer to the limitless sexual orientations and gender identities
recognized by this community, the original term LBGT is used in this study as it was mostly used by
the media and in the data collected for this study. 

Public frames of LGBT people

Frame, the schemata of interpretation to locate, perceive, identify, and label our experiences of the
world (Goffman, 1986), is a valid term used in studying peace-making people. Framing involves
"selecting some aspects of a perceived reality and makes them more salient […] to promote a
particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation or treatment recommendation
for the issue" (Entman, 1993, p. 52). Since frames can be used to perpetuate or challenge social
structures, analyzing frames helps unveil the social practices, social relations, and ideologies used to
rationalize violence against constructed out-groups (Fairclough, 1989; van Dijk, 1998; Wodak &
Meyer, 2016). Some specific frames about LGBT are a social disease, abnormality, a negative trend,
and anti-tradition (Baider, 2016; Faludi, 2016; McInroy, & Craig, 2017).

Studies into public perception of the LGBT in Vietnam show changes over time. In a national survey
conducted on youths aged 15-24 in 2009, more than 90 percent of the participants found
homosexuality unacceptable, and more than 85 percent would not accept a homosexual friend
(Nguyen & Blum, 2014). Similarly, in the interview with participants in several provinces, including
Hanoi, the capital, Khuat et al. (2009) found that the public frame LGBT as something abnormal, a
disease, a deviation, and an acquired lifestyle. Analyzing comments from social media posts, Ha
(2013) found a significant change in which positive comments appear 70 percent of the time, and
negative comments appear more blatantly, though fewer in number. Ha uses fewer negative concepts
to describe the frames of those negative comments, including lacking knowledge explaining
stereotypes and prejudices. In addition, she also found support for the rights of the LGBT. Faludi
(2016) collected data around 2012-2014 using both discourses from online media and interviews
with 16 activists, journalists, and other individuals directly involved in the movement's life. She
found that the public frames the LGBT as a disease and a fashion or lifestyle as a negative trend
learned from others and from the West, which was led by the study by Khuat et al. (2009) and Luong
and Pham (2015). Overall, for over a decade, at the beginning of the 21 century, the LGBT
st

community was viewed as a social stigma, a disease, an abnormality, a negative trend, and an anti-
tradition by most Vietnamese people.

Those who frame LGBT as a mental illness or even an infectious disease believe they need to
be cured (Faludi, 2016; Luong & Pham, 2015) and to overcome themselves to lead a normal life
(Khuat et al., 2009). When homosexuality is believed to be an unexpected trend in Western countries
(Faludi, 2016; Ha, 2013; Horton & Rydstrøm, 2019; Horton et al., 2015), being LGBT is expected as
just a short-lived trend that youngsters temporarily follow to keep up with Western culture. With this
claimed Western cultural influence, or anti-tradition, anti-family, homosexual people are seen as
irresponsible since they do not follow and maintain the traditional family relationship (Ha, 2013).

 In Vietnam, the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 2000 defined a
good family as a monogamous, heterosexual couple who voluntarily entered into marriage and had
no more than two children. Therefore, any form of the family not following this norm was
considered a transgression during this period. Though the National Assembly of Vietnam passed a
law that approved same-sex weddings (NASRV, 2014), the social discriminations still exist since
some people argue that the "fine customs and beautiful traditions" of Vietnamese culture must not be
violated (Faludi, 2016; Horton & Rydstrøm, 2019). Those who are against LGBT believe that human
reproduction and the nation's stability are being threatened by homosexualism (Faludi, 2016; Horton
& Rydstrøm, 2019). 

Sexual conservativeness and fidelity values are correlated with intolerance of homosexuality
(Nguyen & Blum, 2014). Explanation of prejudiced public views also come from the media and
moral and clinical discourses (Khuat et al., 2009), tradition, culture, and especially the family
tradition influenced by Confucianism (Ha, 2013; Horton & Rydstrøm, 2019; Nguyen & Blum, 2014;
Nguyen & Angelique, 2017; Nguyen et al., 2016). Confucian ideology strongly supports
heteronormativity and creates fixed roles for men and women in society (Nguyen & Angelique,
2017). Since social balance and family bloodline are also paramount in Confucianism, and LGBT
people are seen as a threat to human reproduction, heterosexuality is asserted to be the only sexual
orientation that can fulfill the duty of maintaining these social orders (Feng et al. 2012).  

Khuat et al. (2009) suggest educational effort and a shift from moral and clinical discourse to human
rights discourse to change the prospect. Faludi (2016) found organized efforts to counter those
negative public frames by reframing LGBT as normal and as a form of identity. Ha (2013) suggests
and reports on changes found with education and positive media representation. Nguyen and Blum
(2014) hypothesized and tested the positive association between internet use and tolerance. They
further suggest capitalizing on the Internet to intervene and promote respect for sexual diversity and
facilitate homosexual tolerance. 

Materials and methods

Selection of Facebook posts and fan pages 

Nine hundred fifteen comments and sub-comments were collected from two Facebook posts about
the Hanoi Pride Parade from September 29th, 2019, to November 6 , 2019. The first page, Hóng
th

Chuyện Hollywood, is an open fan page that attracts thousands of followers interested in news about
Hollywood showbiz and Western celebrities. Its post about the Hanoi Pride Parade on September
29 , 2019, drew great attention from a huge number of users, including 9.700 likes, 4.200 angry
th

icons, 1.700 sad icons, 302 smile icons, 66 hearts, 50 wow icons, along with 6.800 comments and
sub-comments, 3.600 shares up to November 6 2019. The post revealed that the parade had come
th

under numerous harsh criticisms from the netizens. Its writer added a picture of the objectors'
comments as evidence to provide readers with an overview of the heated debates between the
supporters and protestors with comments from both sides. Without taking any stance, the writer only
describes the situation to ask for users' opinions.

A day later, this update was reposted on another fan page – LGBT Việt Nam. LGBT Việt Nam was
established to support and connect the LGBT community and share more information about LGBT
with other genders and sexualities. The page has followers from both LGBT and heterosexual
people. This report attracted many user interactions, including 3.300 reaction icons, 817 comments
and sub-comments, and 316 shares after a month and a half. 

We selected 286 comments from LGBT Việt Nam and 629 from Hóng Chuyện Hollywood. This
research only considered written comments expressing attitudes related to the topic. Due to
Facebook's commenting policy, each fan page has administrators who may hide the comments from
visitors; hence, not all comments can be publicly seen. 

As the comments are written in Vietnamese, all selected ones are translated into English when we
report the data. The comments are publicly available. The translation of the data and the use of
pseudonyms to replace the nicknames of the commenters would suffice to hide the identity of the
commenters when we analyze and discuss the data. We are still determining the demography of the
commenters; however, most of them may be around young ages ranging from teens to their thirties.
The pronoun "they/their/them" rather than "he or she" will refer to the commenter if the person
signals their belonging to the LGBT community. 

Qualitative content analysis was carefully adopted while examining the collected data. Each
comment was reread several times to explore the commenter's conveyed idea and their perspectives
towards the topic. Deductive and inductive codlings were applied to find the themes using frames
from previous studies as codes and the themes arising from grounded data. 

Frequencies and evaluation in comments

The number of examined comments expressing positive attitudes towards the LGBT community and
the Hanoi Pride Parade is dominant, with 583 comments accounting for 64% of the total remarks.
Only 36% of the comments show opposition to the event. 
Table 1 

Comments Expressing Supportive and Opposing Perspectives.

Fan page Supportive comments Opposing comments Total

LGBT Việt Nam 224 (78%) 62 (22%) 286

Hóng Chuyện
359 (57%) 270 (43%) 629
Hollywood

Total 583 (64%) 332 (36%) 915

While analyzing the commenters' discourses, some main lexical items have been found. Table 2
demonstrates the frequency of words and phrases with similar meanings repeated more than 10
occurrences in all collected comments.

Table 2

 Frequency of Occurrences of Main Lexical Items in the Comments

Number of occurrences

Lexical items (> 10

Support Opposing Translation
Total occurrences)
comments comments

dân trí thấp, lạc hậu, cổ

138 138 0 uneducated, backward
hủ

bình thường, sống như Norms, normal, live

135 38 97
người bình thường normally

lố lăng, làm quá, làm Ridiculous, flashy,

105 24 81
màu, làm lố flaunting, inflating 

Nam – Bắc, Hà Nội – Hồ The South – The North,

67 67 0
Chí Minh/Sài Gòn Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City

The second highest occurrence is "uneducated" or "low education." Surprisingly, these phrases are
only used in positive comments which support the LGBT community and LGBT social events. Other
phrases - "The North – The South / Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City" are constantly repeated by
supporters. The number of occurrences of the words "norm/normal" and "flaunting/inflating"
respectively place in the third and fourth positions. Objectors mainly use these words to express their
perspectives against the LGBT community and the Hanoi Pride parade.

Findings

Based on the collected data, the Hanoi Pride Parade gained many supporters. However, this event
does provoke criticism from many Vietnamese Facebook users. The total number of attacking
comments is 332 out of 915, with 62 comments from the LGBT ViệtNam fan page and 270 from
Hóng Chuyện Hollywood.   

Pride Parades are not necessary.

The commenters in 25 comments question the reason for parading as they believe LGBT people have
all rights equal to heterosexuals. The following comments receive more than 30 replies showing
agreements from Facebook users. 

It's funny; you still have civil rights, are still allowed to vote when you're 18, and no
one takes anything from you, so why do you need to ask for equal rights? (Tan)

Equality??? Do you suffer from violence? Who exploits you that makes you ask for
equality? Be normal, no one gonna say anything, but now you just keep crying for
equality: (Minh)

Tan claims that LGBT people have the same civil rights as other people. Minh also expresses that
LGBT people are not victims of violence or exploitation; hence, the Hanoi Pride Parade is
considered unnecessary. Both Facebook users believe that LGBT should feel fulfilled because they
do not lack any rights. Based on these commenters' perspectives, equality is equivalent to suffrage or
not suffering from physical abuse. This indicates the lack of awareness of the commenters about the
discrimination and violence that LGBT people face in familial, housing, working, educational, legal,
and medical contexts (Faludi, 2016; Horton & Rydstrøm, 2019; Luong & Pham, 2015; UNDP,
USAID, 2014)

In 85 comments under both selected posts, the commenters indicated that this social movement of
the LGBT community is exaggerating what is not considered a pressing problem. 

Holding a parade to cry for equality? I think you guys are too dramatic. I have never
spent time being contentious or saying anything about the third gender; I only see that
most people in this community view the world negatively. They always try to show
everyone they are LGBT; please, for what? The more you do that, the more they hate
you. (Chau)

I don't discriminate against LGBT people, but you should not overdo everything, like
holding a parade. I think you are turning yourself into victims and then parading
against discrimination. Vietnam is more open-minded about it now, and LGBT people
have started to appear more. But having a parade, an anti-discrimination parade, is a
little bit extreme. You want to be accepted; you have to live normally first. Does
parading and shouting make any difference? Sometimes, you guys overact. Being
extreme from your behavior to your motto. (Ha)

Chau says that he is not "contentious” and never "says anything about the third gender," meaning
that he is not prejudiced, which means others are not either. Similarly, "I don't discriminate LGBT
but" is a statement that is not only used by Ha but is also presented by 48 other commenters. This
indicates that discrimination is acknowledged as bad, that these commenters deny being blamed as
discriminative, but that discrimination is justified due to the LGBT's unacceptable behaviors. 

The people's actions in the Pride Parade are seen as dramatic, victimizing themselves and
showing their pessimistic attitude toward the world while not being discriminated against. However,
their idea conveyed in the comments shows the opposite when the words sharing the similar meaning
of being extreme are repeated four times in Ha's comment of eighty-six words indicating her
unfriendly and judgmental attitudes towards the LGBT. They seem to mean that hatred towards
LGBT people is not due to people being discriminative but because of the LGBT's extreme and
abnormal behaviors in the Parade. This indicates that the commenter considers the parade
unnecessary, which only amounts to discrimination.

Some people are overdoing it and being extreme. I don’t understand why we must be
proud of being LGBT; it's just a normal sexual orientation. I agree that there is
discrimination, so we have to hold a parade, but saying we are proud of being LGBT
annoys people. (Tuong)

Not only are heterosexual people against the Hanoi Pride Parade, but some LGBT people also
express disapproval. In the case of the above comment, the commenter indirectly states that they are
a part of the LGBT community by using the personal pronoun "we." Even though they are aware of
the social prejudices and discrimination against people in the LGBT, they believe that holding a
Pride Parade is unnecessary. They question feeling proud of their sexual orientation and consider the
Parade glorifying one's sexual identity. Tuong indicates that all sexual orientations are the same;
therefore, praising one's sexuality is superfluous and irritating. Tuong also believes that people's
annoyance and disapproval of the Parade are justified. 

Pride Parades would backfire 

On both fan pages, LGBT Việt Nam and Hóng Chuyện Hollywood, the Parade's participants’
appearance, and the Hanoi Pride parade are considered abnormal. They are listed as the major reason
for the negative views of netizens.

This event of LGBTQ+ is not good as the way they wear, and their make-up make
others think they are ludicrous and unacceptable. Have you ever seen any straight
person wear flashy and ridiculous clothes in a parade and call for others’ respect?
Sorry to say this, but if you keep doing things like that, who’s gonna respect you? The
clothes and appearance of some people in the Pride parade just give me the creeps.
Those styles should only be on stages or runway fashion shows, not on the street.
When you guys receive criticism, do you say they are discriminating? You guys want
to integrate with the whole community, but you try to make yourself different from
others; is that weird? (Lam)

Phrases “live like a normal person” or “behave normally” appear 97 times in opposing opinions
towards the Hanoi Pride Parade. The participants’ clothes and make-up are described as “ludicrous,”
“unacceptable,” “ridiculous,” and “flashy.” These words indicate that the commenters frame the
LGBT and their behaviors, especially in the Parade, as abnormal. The commenters appeal to
heteronormativity when mentioning heterosexual behaviors as a standard that the LGBT should
follow to be respected. In contrasting the need to integrate with the act of being different, the
commenter seems to demand assimilation and homogeneity rather than appreciating differences. By
the rhetorical question, “Sorry to say this, but if you keep doing things like that, who’s gonna respect
you?” The commenter suggests that the Pride Parades and their costumes would have a counter
effect and make people disrespect them. Such disrespect and discrimination are justified due to the
weirdness and abnormality of the LGBT. 

I don’t hate or discriminate against homosexuality; everyone has the right to love and
have sex, but if you want to be treated equally and have rights like normal people,
please act like a normal one. Do straight guys like me need a parade? Stop being
crazy [...] Nobody cares about your sexuality, so don’t be too extreme. (Tho)

By using the sentence “I don’t discriminate…, but…” and acknowledging the rights of
homosexuality, Tho shows explicit support but hides subtle prejudice against LGBT people. Similar
to Lam, Tho describes the actions of the people in the parade as being crazy and extreme, appealing
to normativity, and demanding assimilation. By asking a rhetorical question to mean that straight
guys do not need to parade, and so should homosexuals, Tho appeals to heteronormativity and
unintentionally shows his insensitivity to the LGBT conditions and needs. Despite some hedging in
this comment, Tho’s attitude is not different from Lam’s described above. 

These commenters believe that Hanoi Pride Parade is unnecessary and would bring counter-effects
for these main reasons. Firstly, they perceive that LGBT have the same rights as other citizens in the
country, such as the right to vote, and they are not maltreated. The Pride Parade is a way to victimize
themselves. Second, straight people do not organize and participate in such a parade wearing strange
clothes demanding their rights or respect; thus, LGBT people should not do so. With this, they
demand assimilation and appeal to heteronormativity, seeing what the LGBT do as abnormal. Third,
the Pride Parades would have counter effects, making people’s disrespect justified due to the
annoyance caused by the abnormal behaviors of those participants. Even some members of the
LGBT community acknowledging the existence of discrimination disapprove of the Parade as they
see that one should not be proud of one’s sexuality. 

Support from the public 

The support of the parade is expressed in a total of 583 comments, equivalent to 64% of the collected
data. As the fan page LGBT Việt Nam was established to share information and encourage the
LGBT community, more positive attitudes are expressed here than negative ones. Specifically, 224
out of 286 comments express encouragement, which accounts for nearly 78% of the fan page’s
selected remarks. Since the target audience of the fan page Hóng Chuyện Hollywood is more
diverse, the supportive remarks are 359, which comprise 57% of the total comments.

More than a parade

Among the supportive comments under the posts about the Hanoi Pride parade on two fan pages, 24
remarks are informative and show positive views towards the Parade by explaining the underlying
meaning of this movement. 

Pride is not organized to cry for equal rights or support the LGBT community. Pride
is established to give people in the community a chance to live with their true selves
and be proud of themselves. It is not about being proud of being gay or lesbian. No
matter what type of sexual orientation we are, we are still human. Since we were kids,
there have been a lot of stereotypes about sexual identities, like “boys have to do this”
or “girls have to be like that,”; but nobody knows that LGBT people must withstand
lots of social pressure and stress. That’s the reason why Pride was organized. We do
 not need equal rights or your pitifulness. WE JUST WANT TO LIVE WITH OUR
TRUE SEXUAL ORIENTATIONS (Hung)

In the first sentence, the commenter asserts that the Hanoi Pride Parade is not organized to achieve
recognition or equality. This commenter somehow depoliticizes the Parade, which is also an effort
by the organizers to strategically communicate the event’s meaning to maneuver the sensitive
political context in Vietnam (Oosterhoff et al., 2014). This activity aims to create a friendly
environment where the LGBT community can freely expose their sexual orientation. The comment
also reveals an uncomfortable truth that the act of standardizing gender exists in our society,
affecting people’s ideology from an early age.

Therefore, the parade emboldens LGBT people undergoing gender stereotypes to be proud to
live with their true selves. Moreover, the commenter capitalizes the final sentence instead of using
lowercase letters to express their strong desire to live with “true sexual orientations.” 

Do you think that you have the right to claim yourself gay without any help freely?
Many people have shed blood, sweat, and tears to fight for equal rights and social
recognition. Society does not naturally have a positive view towards LGBT. Please
understand that this parade is not about being proud that LGBT is superior to others
but about being proud of the whole community that brought everything we have
today. In this parade, they want to share happiness. (Hoang)

The extracted comment above affirms that “blood, sweat, and tears” are what pioneers had to trade
off for equality and recognition. According to the commenter, the main motivation of the Hanoi
Pride Parade is to show great appreciation and Pride in people who have brought the LGBT
community closer to society. The event is about “sharing happiness” with everyone regardless of
sexual preference. The personal pronoun “we” is also used to reinforce their strong stance.

Although each supporter uses different words to clarify the meaningful message of the Hanoi Pride
Parade, they all try to convey the idea of valuing diversity and appreciating differences. Besides,
though the number of comments explaining the event’s purpose only makes up 4.1% (24 out of 583)
of the supportive comments, it suggests a lack of understanding of the meaning of the Hanoi Pride
parade among the public.

The public’s attitudes sensed by supporters.

Among 583 supportive comments on both fan pages, 96 comments point out the commenters’
perception of the public. These comments reveal that inequality and prejudices against the LGBT
community exist daily.

I was there that day. I showed my support, and they smiled at me and thanked me. But
other people looked at me discriminatingly. Some college students were whispering
behind my back. I felt sad for them. (Linh)

This user participated in the Hanoi Pride parade to show her supportive attitude toward the LGBT
community. However, she witnessed indirect discrimination from the pedestrians. The phrases
“looked at me discriminatingly” and “whispered behind my back” indicate public stigma not only for
the LGBT community but also for its supporters. 

Not 100% of people support LGBT, so hatred is unavoidable. You said that the
parade shows the voice of the LGBT community. That's right, but not many people
 can understand it, especially those who don’t like it. They will turn it into an excuse
for increasing their hatred towards us. Maybe your sayings are meaningful but not
enough to change other beliefs. It’s so sad. Well, anyways, I hope that you guys
always stay healthy. (Kha)

In the first statement, the commenter acknowledges the “unavoidable hatred.” Though they
encourage the parade for its positive meaning, they do not deny that it is “not enough to change one’s
belief.” They are also aware that the Parade would backfire, and some may appeal to the Parade as a
reason to exacerbate the hatred. 

Normal people who are cross-dressing receive support and are considered funny,
while LGBT people wearing clothes that reflect their sexual identities are seen as
flashy, gross, or flaunting. I'm so tired! (Hoang) 

A contradiction between attitudes towards heterosexual crossdressers and LGBT people is exposed
in the above remark. The user expresses their disappointment as cross-dressing is a famous artwork
of comedians widely accepted and enjoyed by Vietnamese society as an art form, while people
wearing clothes to present their sexual orientations only receive negative words like “flashy,”
“gross,” or “flaunting.” Interestingly, though the commenter expresses their support for the Hanoi
Pride Parade by using the word “normal” to refer to people who do not belong to the LGBT
community, the commenter unintentionally appeals to heteronormativity.

Supporters’ attitudes towards objectors

Besides expressing love and supporting the Hanoi Pride parade, supporters’ many comments (227
out of 583 remarks) display indignation over negative comments.

[...] You’re already straight, so you don’t have to fight to live with your true gender.
So it cannot be compared like that. LGBT is not a choice! Finally, haters gonna hate,
even when we only breathe. So, whatever! (Quang)

In this comment, the commenter explains that, as a whole, society automatically recognizes
heterosexuality; those people do not have to struggle against prejudices. Hence, it is unfair to
compare LGBT people with straight ones. They also add information, “LGBT is not a choice!” to
correct the wrong perception that some people blame LGBT people for choosing that lifestyle as a
trend rather than being “true” LGBT. Despite such efforts to explain and spread information, in the
end, the users do not seem to hope for more understanding from “haters.”

When a dog barks at you, do you bark back :)? Don’t mind those with low education
=))) (Lan)

[...] It's the 21st century… be like civilized people! Raise your intellectual standard!
(Tien)

More and more uneducated, undeveloped, shallow people are permeating our society.
You’re against world development but still believe you are doing the right things. So
scary. (Huynh)

A significant number of 138 comments express strong reactions to discriminators by labeling them
“low intellectual standard” or “against world development.” Lan ironically compares people who
oppose the Hanoi Pride Parade with the animal “dog” and considers their words “barks” to show
their contempt and dehumanize discriminators. Among those comments, one from Tien receives
many interactions with 1.200 likes. Tien calls those people “uncivilized,” while Huynh uses words
such as “uneducated,” “undeveloped,” and “shallow” to malign the opponents. This constitutes the
circle of prejudice, where the LGBT objectors become the subjects of discrimination, and the
supporters become the ones who show prejudices. 

That some supporters would be angry due to the opponents’ defamation is understandable. However,
while fighting against prejudices and discrimination, they create a vicious circle by insulting,
expressing prejudices, and othering those with different viewpoints. This emotional way of
expressing disagreement may provoke anger and further polarize supporters and protesters rather
than enhance support and understanding. 

Besides comments directly expressing personal perspectives about the Hanoi Pride Parade, 67
comments on both fan pages discuss the different stereotypes and prejudices about the North and the
South of Vietnam. 

No offense, but the South is much more open-minded than the North. (Linh)

A huge mistake in this Pride parade was thinking Hanoi is like Sai Gon; seriously,
they are two different cultures. (Tuan) 

Clearly! Does anyone oppose the parade on Nguyen Hue Street? Not at all. (Huy)

“The South is much more open-minded than the North” (Linh) and more supportive of the Parades
(Huy). Fifty-three commenters state this. Tuan strongly indicates that the Hanoi Pride Parade is a
“huge mistake” since the two regions do not share the same “culture.” Tuan emphasizes the
differences in lifestyle, ideology, and perceptions between the North and the South. Due to these
dissimilarities, people’s reactions towards the Hanoi Pride Parade are claimed to be more negative
than in the South. The Pride Parade on Nguyen Hue Street (in Ho Chi Minh City – the South) is
given as an example to strengthen the commenter’s opinion. 

The North still needs to follow lots of unchangeable Confucianism rules. The South
was exposed to and affected by open-minded culture from Western countries earlier.
(Van)

Van explains the reason for the different ideologies between the two regions of Vietnam. Van
strongly believes that Confucianism has shaped Northern people’s rigid perceptions and that the
Southern people are more open-minded as they were influenced by Western cultures earlier. 

It’s modern life, not the old time. Countries around the world accept LGBT. If we do
not acquire new things, we will always be backward. (Ngan)

Vietnam keeps doing things like that; that’s why it’s called old-fashioned. (Nguyen)

Oh my god, we cannot keep up with Western society. (Xuan)

Nine percent (84 comments) of the total collected comments express disappointment towards our
own country - Vietnam; ten among them compare Vietnam with other countries, especially the
Western ones, revealing the reverse cultural effect. Most of the comments conclude that the act of
criticizing and discriminating at the Hanoi Pride Parade is considered “backward,” “old fashion,” and
only existed in “the old-time.” They insisted that Vietnam accept the LGBT community and not be
left behind in the world’s civilization. These Facebook users turn LGBT acceptance into a criterion
to assess the development of Vietnamese people. 
When praising the South, where the Pride Parade is supported, and disparaging the North for
opposing it, the users imply that they accept LGBT people and encourage their social movements.
Paradoxically, while supporting the Hanoi Pride Parade, these comments reinforce regional prejudice
inside Vietnam and expand it out of the country’s border. Based on each region’s historical
background, the South is assumed to share a similar ideology to Western countries, while the North
is more conservative and preserves Confucian values. From these commenters’ perspectives,
Vietnam is believed to be left behind and cannot catch up with Western countries. This can be seen
as an internalized inferiority complex since they consider other cultures superior. 

Discussion and conclusions

The study aims to determine public attitudes towards the Pride Parade in the comments under
Facebook posts. It reinforces the literature by finding a paradoxical space where the public’s views
range from hatred to love, detest to support, and anger to tolerance (Brickell, 2000; Johnston, 2005;
Lundberg, 2007) and advances the literature by adding a nuanced picture of the Vietnamese context.

It finds that though in the minority, the comments opposing the Parade appeal to normativity and
heteronormativity to trivialize it, reasoning that the LGBT have rights to vote and to lead a normal
life as others; thus, the Parades are unnecessary. They also claim that the strange behaviors of the
people in the Parade justify hatred and discrimination against LGBT people. This perception reveals
a certain level of the public’s lack of understanding of the meaning of the Parade, of the rights that
the LGBT are not yet entitled to, such as marriage, and of the discrimination that they face in their
family, work, education, health care, housing, and legal services (Faludi, 2016; Horton & Rydstrøm,
2019; Luong & Pham, 2015; UNDP, USAID, 2014) and even of the prejudice that such commenters
are having. 

The majority of the comments express support for the Pride Parade. Some provide information about
the meaning and purpose of the Pride Parade and explain the LGBT’s challenging conditions and the
celebration of their achievement. Such explanation helps improve public understanding and
awareness of the LGBT community and possibly creates further enabling conditions to facilitate
connection and integration among people of different sexualities. However, some supporters, fueled
by the anger caused by protestors’ comments, respond by othering the protesters, attributing
differences in attitudes to backwardness, and reinforcing regional and national prejudices. These
emotional expressions of anger to fight against prejudices and discrimination may create a vicious
circle of hatred, deepening the gaps between supporters and protesters and creating a polarization of
viewpoints, which may hinder the integration and connection process. 

Enhancing visibility is seen as an important means to achieve further political rights for the LGBT
worldwide and is among the main aims of the LGBT Pride Parade (Brickell, 2000; Faludi, 2016;
Lundberg, 2007; Oosterhoff et al., 2014). In the mainstream media, the reports of Viet Pride are
increasingly positive, improving public awareness and perception of the LGBT community.
However, looking at social media, where the public has more freedom and creativity in expressing
their viewpoints and negotiating meanings, we see that change is a dynamic process. This finding
challenges the assumption and suggestion by Nguyen and Blum (2014) that the Internet might
facilitate changes in a positive direction. In this study, as social media allows for the interaction and
“collision” of viewpoints, on the one hand, it may enhance understanding and appreciation. On the
other hand, it conditions further expression of hatred and polarization of viewpoints. 

This research aims to investigate the perception of Facebook users towards the Pride Parade, not
towards the LGBT community; however, it also found that prejudices against the LGBT exist. We
can see evidence of the frame of LGBT people as a disease, as abnormal, as anti-tradition, and as a
 negative trend imported from the West found in previous studies (Faludi, 2016; Ha, 2013; Horton &
Rydstrøm, 2019; Horton et al., 2015; Khuat et al., 2009; Luong & Pham, 2015). Interestingly, a
qualitative study looking into comments like this provides a nuanced picture of the perceptions.
Those who start their comments by saying, “I don’t discriminate… but” are those who hold
prejudices against the LGBT but not wanting to be blamed for being discriminative. The view cannot
be detected by asking people to complete a questionnaire enquiring whether they are discriminative
or supportive of the LGBT community. 

Limitations and suggestions for further studies

Access to all comments on both fan pages is restricted due to Facebook policy which allows the fan
page’s administrator to censor unwanted or offensive comments. The data provides access to
nuanced views of the public. The qualitative analysis allows the researchers to look deeper into the
commenters’ complex perspectives compared to data collected from survey questionnaires.
However, this approach only allows us to look into the perspective of Facebook users, not the wider
public. Thus, the findings of this study should be interpreted with caution. The study looks at the
data and divides the comments into supportive and protective ones. Further studies might trace the
interaction among the commenters longitudinally to see if the perspectives of the commenters change
after exposing them to other comments and what directions of the changes are, if any. 

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