Unlike many of the other countries surveyed in this section of Gaynz.Com, Cambodia has never had anti-LGBT legislation. It has had other problems to deal with, however. Modern day Cambodia evolved from two Central South East Asian kingdoms- Funan and Chenla. These consolidated into the Khmer Empire, centred on Angkor. It fared well for about six centuries, then fell into rapid decay, leading to conflicts between neighbouring Vietnam and Thailand for hegemony over the disintegrating empire's territory. It accepted French colonial administration in 1867 which lasted until its independence in 1953 and the appointment of King Norodom Sihonuk as its constitutional monarch. During the Vietnam War, Cambodia maintained a precarious neutrality as the Viet Cong, South Vietnam and the United States fought one another. In 1970, Sihanouk was overthrown and the new military dictatorship invited US armed forces to repell territorial encroachment from the Viet Cong, leading to two years of civil war. The victorious Khmer Rouge occupied Phnom Penh in 1970 and unleashed a murderous totalitarian dictatorship, leading to an estimated one million deaths. Mercifully, the regime fell in 1979 when the Vietnamese invaded and occupied the charnel house nation, publicising what they found to the outside world. The occupation lasted until 1989, and in 1994, the United Nations presided over the reappointment of Sihanouk as head of state and the return of constitutional democracy. Despite a 1997 coup, and ongoing war crimes trials for the leaders of the Khmer Rouge and their crimes against humanity, Cambodia has returned to relative peace. Cambodia never had a period in which prohibition of lesbian and gay sex occurred. Like neighbouring Thailand, its gay and transgender communities intermix within the designationkathoey, which used to refer to lesbians, gay men and transpeople, but now only refer to the latter.Sak klayare 'butch' bisexual men, often married to women, whilesak vengcorrespond to western transgender communities. Marriage is denied tokathoeyand violence against them is endemic, even within an otherwise tolerant and inclusive Cambodian social order. As for actual political change, in 2007, then Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced he was disowning his lesbian daughter, but said he did not want other Cambodian parents to follow suit. In 2010, the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights established a Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Project. In 2011, Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism stated that it welcomed overseas LGBT tourists. In 2004, King Norodom Sihanouk stated his admiration for western same-sex marriage, but despite this candour and welcome liberalism from a head of state, the Cambodian Constitution reserves the rights and privileges of marriage for straight couples only. Despite this, lesbian and gay commitment ceremonies are performed and Buddhist ministers are generally inclusive when it comes to recognition of monogamous relationships for same-sex couples. Phnom Penh has held Pride celebrations since 2003. There are some worrying signs of complacency amongst younger Cambodian gay/kathoeymen, however. As for other aspects of Cambodian society, freedom of expression is hampered, violence against women is endemic, and so are forced evictions of the Cambodian rural poor. Abuses of trade unionists and opposition politicians are also widespread. Arbitrary arrest and torture, forced child labour exploitation, forced trafficking in women and children and the forced repatriation of ethnic Vietnamese Montagnard asylum seekers round out this list. Sadly too, Cambodia has one of the highest levels of HIV exposure in Asia. However, ardent HIV prevention and prophylaxis methods halved the rate of HIV exposure (2000-2005). Most HIV transmission does not occur through the Cambodian gay/kathoey community, but through the nation's sex industry. HIV transmission generally occurs in established relationships where one partner has undertaken high risk activities involving unprotected sex and/or IV drug use. One recent spike in HIV infection was attributed to the negligent reuse of infected syringe needles in the northwestern Cambodian province of Roka. Cambodia may seem like a paradise, and compared to neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia, that is undoubtedly so. However, economic inequality and the lack of human rights and civil liberties still affect the quality of life there, as do rudimentary standards of LGBT rights within statutory and legislative measures. Recommended: Wikipedia/Cambodia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Cambodia Torsten Hojer: "Cambodia Coming Out":DNA198 (July 2016): 58-69 Wikipedia/LGBT rights in Cambodia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ LGBT_rights_in_Cambodia Wikipedia/Human rights in Cambodia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Human_rights_in_Cambodia Wikipedia/HIV/AIDS in Cambodia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ HIV/AIDS_in_Cambodia Craig Young - 26th August 2016