Myanmar’s first LGBT minister Aung Myo Min continues lifelong fight against human rights abuses
- Aung Myo Min has spent three decades defending human rights after the 1988 uprising led him to dedicate his life to activism
- As the country’s first openly gay member of cabinet, he hopes to be able to shift mindsets on LGBTQ folk and Rohingya, and other rights issues
Human rights activist Aung Myo Min, 53, has many firsts under his belt.
On May 4, Aung Myo Min broke another barrier as the first LGBTQ person to become sworn in as a member of cabinet, after being appointed by the National Unity Government (NUG) as its Union Minister for Human Rights.
The NUG is made up of opponents of the Myanmar military. Many are lawmakers from the National League for Democracy (NLD), which had won the November 2020 election by a landslide, but was overthrown and accused of voter fraud by the military, known as the Tatmadaw. Some members have been in exile since the February 1 coup.
“When NUG recruited me, I did not know I would be working as a minister,” said Aung Myo Min. “It’s always been my conviction as an activist to promote human rights for our citizens.”
