Gay couples in Vietnam have started planning their weddings as the communist government lifts ban on same-sex marriage.

While Vietnam’s new marriage law, which went into effect January 1, still doesn’t legally recognise marriages, the country no longer “prohibits marriage between people of the same sex” and has abolished financial penalties.

The LGBT community in Vietnam have welcomed the new law, hailing it as a milestone for LGBT rights in Asia.

“I am ready to have a wedding,” said Vietnamese doctor Thuan Nguyen. “Many, many young people in love are optimistic about the acceptance of gay weddings.”

Jamie Gillen, a researcher of culture geography at National University of Singapore, told Bloomberg, “This makes Vietnam a leader in Asia, Singapore just reaffirmed its ban on homosexual behaviours. Vietnam is trying to pitch itself as a tolerant and safe country.”

The ruling comes just a few months after Vietnam introduced new gender recognition legislation for trans citizens, which allows those who have undergone gender reassignment surgery to be recognised in their preferred gender.

In November, the state-run website VNExpress, wrote, “Individuals who undergo transgender change will have the right to register [their preferred gender]” and that they will receive “personal rights in accordance with their new sex”.