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Just five months after appearing in the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time, defender Tran Thi Thu became the first women's professional football player to marry another woman in Vietnam.
The past year has been full of exciting firsts for the women's football team in Vietnam.
Just five months after the team appeared in the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time in franchise history, defender Tran Thi Thu became the first women's professional football player to marry another woman, according to VN Express International. Thu married Nguyen Thi Thuong in in Ho Chi Minh City over the weekend, drawing support from her teammates, many of whom were in attendance.
“I would like to send my sincere thanks to relatives on both sides of the family, friends near and far, and colleagues who took some time to come celebrate and give congratulations," Thu wrote on her Facebook, via Vietnamese news website VTC. "Best wishes to us. The wedding was a great success."
Same-sex marriages are still not recognized under the law in Vietnam, and LGBTQ+ couples are not afforded legal protections. Same-sex marriages were illegal in the country until 2015, when the National Assembly approved a bill abolishing the country's ban and permitting symbolic marriages between same-sex couples. Taiwan is the only country in Asia that has fully legalized same-sex marriage; Nepal has taken a step toward it by recognizing at least one such union.
Vietnam’s health ministry ruled in 2022 that being LGBTQ+ is “not an illness,” writing that gay and transgender people “cannot be ‘cured,’ nor need to be ‘cured,’ and cannot be converted in any way” in a document at the time. The country barred medical professionals from practicing conversion therapy the same year.
Sixty-five percent of Vietnamese people support same-sex marriage, according to a November poll from Pew Research Center, making it the country with the highest level of support among Southeast Asian nations.
Thu has helped the Ho Chi Minh City Women’s Football Club secure eight national titles throughout her career. She was called up to the national team in 2017 and went on to win gold at the 31st and 32nd South East Asian Games.
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