Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review | DOI: 10.13060/csr.2026.013

Coming Out Among Non-Heterosexual Second-Generation Vietnamese in Czechia

Marta Lopatková ORCID...1, Zdeněk Sloboda ORCID...2,3
1 Institute of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Department of Media and Cultural Studies and Journalism, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
3 Department of Adult Education and Personnel Management, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

In this paper, we present the experiences of self-identified gay, lesbian, bi, and queer individuals from the one-and-a-half and second generation of Czech-Vietnamese. This ethnic group is the largest culturally distinct group in Czech society, which is otherwise quite homogeneous in terms of ethnicity and culture. The results presented in this paper are based on in-depth interviews with 19 informants, aged 19 to 38, collected in 2021 and 2022. We found that same-sex dating and relationships are rather rare in this group. We identified coming out (or lack thereof) as a crucial life event, as young Vietnamese, on a larger scale, either do not come out to their family or postpone doing so to an older age. Therefore, in this paper, we examine the conditions for coming out in this group, particularly in relation to their parents. This includes exploring ideas about gender and kinship, the conceptualisation of shame and pride within the Vietnamese diaspora, and the interdependence of second-generation Czech-Vietnamese and their parents, despite common cultural and personal estrangement. We discuss different approaches to coming out, including avoidance or neglect of coming out, or a coming out that is unrealised but tacitly understood by others.

Keywords: coming out, second-generation Vietnamese, Czechia, LGBTQ+ identity, gay Vietnamese

Received: April 23, 2025; Revised: April 12, 2026; Accepted: April 14, 2026; Prepublished online: June 1, 2026 

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