Last week, local media in Indonesia broke a story that 14 students with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), had been expelled from a public elementary school following demands from parents of other students.The headmaster of the Purwotomo Public Elementary School who, like many Indonesians, goes by the single name Karwi, told local media that the students in question had not been allowed to attend classes – in the town of Solo in Central Java province – since last week.

Last year, Taiwan’s apex court ruled that the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman under Taiwan’s civil law is against their constitution, which effectively means that Taiwan is the first country in Asia to legalise gay marriage. This year, India’s courts overturned a colonial-era law which criminalises consensual gay sex.

Freedom of religious practise is a constitutionalised law that has been established in all 10 ASEAN countries. However therein lies the difference between establishing a law and enforcing it. Certain nations experienced severe backlash due to infringement on their religious practises caused by discrimination.