UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE

© Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project © Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project © Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project View all images ↓
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  • Dates
    2017 - 2017
  • Author
  • Topics Portrait, Social Issues, Contemporary Issues
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Sara Magni : she graduates in Scenography in 2004, at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan. 
She has been focusing her work on socials contemporary issues, in particular women issues. Chiara Luxardo: she graduates in Business Administration, Milan and Development Studies in Soas, London.

As Myanmar undergoes political and economic liberalization after over fifty years of military dictatorship, LGBT minorities continue to face myriad forms of discrimination. Although political and legal institutions have been rapidly changing since the 2010 general elections, same-sex relationships are still illegal: according to Section 377 of the Penal Code, “unconventional love” could be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, in addition to a fine. Aim of this first-hand photographic project is to presents the readers with stories of unconventional love through the extraordinary testimony of Burmese lesbian couples that decided to break the silence acting as agents of change.

Within contemporary Burmese society, the daily life of LGBT people is constantly threatened by religious and social norms that underpin their rights to enjoy civil-political freedoms and speak out against oppression. Along with existing discriminatory laws, social prejudices are in some cases further boosted by Buddhist practices and beliefs. In Buddhist thought, in fact, life is cyclical, and everyone' social position is determined by their karma at birth, as accumulated in previous lives through actions involving the body, tongue, and mind. Accordingly, homosexuality is often seen as a result of sexual transgressions and adultery perpetrated in a past life.

Due to a deeply rooted hierarchical structure that places men above women, the Buddhist society seems to be slightly more tolerant regarding homosexual women; however this does not come without a cost. Lesbians must prove they wanted to be men since birth in order to get their “illness” partially justified. As a result, the majority of Burmese lesbian couples establish relationships in which one of the two partners dresses up, acts and behaves in public like a man, referring to herself as a tomboy. In some cases, the process of transformation gets irreversible. Trasgender man call themselves tomboy, using the english word as there is no word in Burmese for gay or lesbian, only insult. For instance, one of the girls that participated in the project is currently undergoing hormone treatments to be become a man, with the final intent to/ hoping to get more easily accepted by her family or at the workplace.

© Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project
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Ko Gyaw Gyi, 22 years old and Ei Za Phyu Lwin, 20 years old, in their hairdressing salon in Yangon. The girls have been dating for two years and have been living together for one year and a half. At the beginning it was very hard to introduce themselves in public as a couple. For them it was particularly difficult to come out with Ei’s family, as at first they did not show any support, nor approve their relationship. Now both Ko and Ei’s friends and families are used to seeing them together and they make them feel accepted. This is mainly due to the fact that Ko is viewed officially as a man. She talks about herself as a mam and introduces herself as such. Although she never wishes she was born as a man, Ko sometimes prays at the Pagoda, asking God to make her become a man as this would make her relationship with Ei easier. Ei likes tomboys and has never had a romantic relationship with a woman.

© Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project
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Lay Naing, 41 years old, and Htet Htet Moe, 19 years old, at a friend’s house in Yangon. The couple has been together for about one year. Moe eloped from her family as she thought they would have never understood her relationship with Lay Naing. The girls live together with Lay Naing’s grandmother. According to the couple, the way you dress and behave in public is crucial to avoid being in the spotlight in a society that only accepts the male-female couple model. In Moe’s view, it is also safer to have a seemingly male figure by her side.

© Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project
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Nar, 25 years old, and Myat, 24 years old, in their house in Yangon. Nar and Myat have been together for two years, however they have never come out as a couple – a common trend among other LGBT friends of theirs. Myat hasn’t told her family with about her relationship Nar, but she thinks that they might acknowledge and accept the situation as they often hang out at her place and they are used to seeing them together. Nar comes from a very traditional family from northern Myanmar and she feels very scared about the idea of coming out with her father. Neither of them identifies as a tomboy, and for fear of consequences they did not want to be identified in the photograph.

© Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project
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Chen, 29 years old and Pan, 22 years old, in a café in downtown Yangon. They have been together for about one year. After five months Chen asked Pan to marry her. She agreed only after four proposals. Chen works as a secretary, while Pan is studying fashion design and would like to eventually launch her own fashion brand. Their wedding party took place the Novotel in Yangon and there were 50 invitees. Chen and Pan are the first lesbian couple to publically get married in Myanmar. In their wedding photos, they both wear white western dresses, which they like very much. Chen is Buddhist while Pan is catholic. Both families accepted their relationship and they feel very lucky for this. All their lesbian friends are still hiding from their families and are not out in society yet.

© Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project
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Zeck, 18 years old and Han Lay, 19 years old, both students, portrayed in a park in central Yangon. They have been dating for a few months. Zeck identifies himself as a transgender man, he feels like a boy and has been undergoing hormone treatments for about eight months. His mother is not happy with this and she still hopes he will continue his life as a girl. Zeck feels like a boy since he was four years old. Although his mom always tried to dress him like a girl, he has always found it hard as he could only identify with tomboy figures. When he was 14, he decided to live openly like a man. Zeck and Han Lay met on Facebook and would like to move to Singapore or Thailand where LGBT people are more accepted.

© Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project
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Thu Thu, a 20 years old student, and Hnin Ei Wai, a 26 years old accountant, in central Yangon. They have been together for a few months. They met for the first time at the water festival (a Buddhist New Year festival) last year. They both live with their parents, so when they hang out they usually meet outside movie theaters, at the park, for lunch and dinner. Hnin defines herself as a tomboy but her parents would still like her to live as a girl.

© Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project
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Tada, 20 years old, and Dam, 18 years old, in a dance studio in Yangon. Both of them are students and they like dancing to hip hop and Kpop (Korean pop) music. They met in a dance theatre not long ago. Tada visits Dam almost every day, his family now welcomes them. However, up to one year ago, Dam’s parents struggled accepting Dam’s identity. It was particularly problematic for the father, but now he calls Dam “son”. Dam is Tada’s first tomboy.

© Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project
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Wan Wan, 19 years old and Main Main, 29 years old. Wan would like to have a sex change operation, but it’s too expensive in Myanmar. Thus, he is now undergoing hormone treatments, which can be imported from neighboring countries, but are known for not being completely safe and legal. Main only had boyfriends before this relationship, while Wan only had girlfriends. He is the one that identifies himeself as a tomboy.

© Sara Magni - Image from the UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE photography project
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Wadi Thet Htut, 25 years old and May Kay Khaing, 25 years old, in central Yangon. They are neighbors. They have been together for seven years and they are each other’s first love. Wadi identifies himself as a tomboy. The family now accepts him, but his identity is not of public domain. His parents still call him daughter. He doesn’t take testosterone injections only because he believes that the hormone products that can be found in Myanmar are not reliable. He would like to change his appearance as much as he can, not necessarily completely, but as long as he can be recognized as a man publicly. Both Wadi and May are freelancing in the creative sector and they both agree that their kind of relationships is more accepted in this kind of workplace. They believe there is no female-male matters in love, as long as two people are happy. Once they saw a post on Facebook of two girls kissing each other and the comments were very negative and aggressive. They think it is definitely much easier to blend in as a “normal” couple than living a same-sex relationship.