🇸🇬 Singapore warns U.S. embassy over webinar with LGBT group
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/...oup-2021-05-19/



Socially-conservative Singapore on Wednesday said it "noted with regret" that the U.S. embassy in the city-state had co-hosted a webinar with a local LGBT support group earlier this week.

Multi-ethnic Singapore has strict laws regulating public assembly. Foreigners are prohibited from participating in events dealing with a political cause.

"Ministry of foreign affairs has reminded the U.S. Embassy that foreign missions here are not to interfere in our domestic social and political matters, including issues such as how sexual orientation should be dealt with in public policy," it said in a statement.

"These are choices for only Singaporeans to debate and decide."

The May 17 webinar marked the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia and focused on the economic advantages of LGBTQI+ equality and inclusion around the world, the U.S. embassy in Singapore said.

LGBTQI refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and/or queer and intersex.

"The U.S. Embassy regularly works with civil society partners on a wide range of issues to build awareness and advance the human rights of all persons," it added. The event was co-hosted with support group Oogachaga.

Under Singapore law, sex between men is punishable by up to two years in jail, though prosecutions are rare. Previous attempts to overturn the colonial-era law have failed.

Oogachaga's Executive Director Leow Yangfa said the organisation "notes with surprise" the Singapore government's statement.

Leow said none of the speakers in the invitation-only webinar discussed how sexual orientation should be dealt with in public policy.

🇮🇩 Before Grindr, Indonesia’s LGBT folk used zines to search for love, friendship
Source: https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-as...nes-search-love



When Indonesian researcher Ais last year came across a trove of retro LGBTQ zines in Bali, he was taken by the significance of the find.

One of the covers, which featured two men embracing, would be considered more than risqué for Indonesia, where although homosexuality is not illegal – except in sharia-ruled Aceh province – it is generally considered a taboo subject.

“Suddenly, it felt like I was a part of something bigger than myself,” said Ais, 29, who does not want to reveal his full name due to the sensitivity of the matter, of his discovery of the zines. “Turns out I have a history.”

LGBTQ zines, or community-based publications printed in small batches, were distributed across the Indonesian archipelago during the 1980s and 1990s, a sign of more permissive times in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

The country has over time become less tolerant of the LGBTQ community, with some politicians in recent years being more vocal about Islam playing a large role in the state.

The discovery of the LGBTQ zines gave Ais and Beau Newham, an Australian who works in HIV prevention and support, the impetus to digitise as many copies as they could to give the publications a second lease on life online. Their website, Queer Indonesia Archive (QIA), went live last June.

“If it’s any sort of material that reflects the stories of queer Indonesians and we can digitise it, we will,” said Newham, 34. “That’s the premise.”

Equipped with four scanners and aided by volunteers, fundraising and non-governmental grants, the duo has found more than 18 titles of Indonesian LBGTQ zines and the archive has reached 30 gigabytes.

Ais said the group usually goes to the head of the community that produced the zine to ask if they would share copies.

The first LGBTQ zine in Indonesian history was published in 1982 and was called G: Gaya Hidup Ceria (G: Happy Lifestyle), according to Dede Oetomo, a gay scholar who founded the longest-running zine GAYa NUSANTARA, which finally went online in 2014.

Though they never received mainstream recognition, the zines circulated freely from Java island (Jaka Zine) to Sulawesi (GAYa Celebes), containing poems to personal ads, where people in search of a partner would post basic information and photos of themselves.

“I was happy, because I could get lots of friends. In hindsight, those bulletins did what the social media apps are doing today,” Dede said, referring to gay dating apps such as Grindr.

To evade Indonesian authorities, the zines were called a “series of books”, instead of bulletins, Dede said, adding this was the closest they came to self-censorship.

“I’m glad Queer Indonesia Archive is doing this. We never had such skills,” he added.

Archiving these zines has been soul-searching for Ais, who said his exposure to queer communities in recent years has always centred on queer persecution.

While the Queer Indonesia Archive has not yet raised any ire with the authorities, “we’re in a perpetual fear of backlash”, Newham said.

There has been a rise in discrimination and violent attacks against Indonesia’s LGBTQ community in recent years. Police have prosecuted members of the community under anti-pornography and other laws.

More than 1,800 cases of persecution of LGBTQ Indonesians occurred between 2006 and 2017, advocacy group Arus Pelangi reported in September 2019.

A survey by the Pew Research Center think tank last year showed that 80 per cent of Indonesians believe homosexuality “should not be accepted by society”.

After the Covid-19 pandemic ends, Ais and Newham plan to start recording audio accounts of older members of LGBTQ communities.

“We want to archive more of our history in an inclusive manner,” Ais said. “Through QIA, I hope to make people more aware of Indonesia’s queer history.”

Don't bother. The man who looks like in the act of jerking off may has get hurt in the abdomen due to the disaster. The two men embracing each other could be brothers saving each other, or could be a father trying to protect his son. OMG, those anti-LGBTQ really has all those dirty imagination.

🇯🇵 Japanese Lawmaker Says LGBT Rights Go Against Preservation of Species Amid Record-Low Birth Rates
Source: https://www.newsweek.com/japanese-lawmaker-...h-rates-1593967



Japanese lawmaker Kazuo Yana of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has said that LGBT rights go against the preservation of species amid record-low birth rates in the East Asian country.

During a party meeting on Thursday local time, Yana, 42, a third-term member of the Japanese House of Representatives, reportedly told members that LGBT people run counter to the basis of biology, according to Japan Times. Participants of the meeting quoted Yana as saying that his remarks aren't meant to discriminate against LGBT people but same sex relationships "resist the preservation of the species."

Asked for comment, Yana told Kyodo News, "I will refrain from commenting about the [LGBT] remark as it was a closed meeting."

Openly gay lawmakers Kanako Otsuji and Taiga Ishikawa, members of the Constitutional Democratic Party, strongly criticized Yana's comments.

"I demand he retract the remarks," Otsuji said. "How much does he have to hurt [LGBT] people and neglect their human rights to be satisfied?"

It's an "extremely stereotypical view," Ishikawa added.

Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation, a coalition of pro-LGBT groups, said Yama's remarks "hurt not only [LGBT] themselves but also their families, friends and acquaintances, cannot be overlooked."

Japan's consistently low birthrate has caused the country's population to age and shrink over the past 14 years. With more than 30 percent of its population over 65, the Asian nation has struggled to contain its stagnation in births as an increasing number of women swap motherhood for the workforce due to the country's economy.

In 2020, Japan's birth rate fell to a record low 872,683, with 25,917 fewer babies born domestically and to Japanese nationals living overseas compared to a year earlier. The current 2021 birth rate indicates another drop of 1.3 percent, with 7.2 births per 1000 people, according to MacroTrends.

The figure represents the latest point of a continuing decline, with a 1.3 percent drop in 2019, 1.3 percent drop in 2018 and 2.4 percent drop in 2017.

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has suggested that the coronavirus pandemic may have contributed to the country's birth rate crisis, but cautioned that its full effects cannot be determined until at least the end of 2021.

"The gender stuff is pretty consistent with trends around the world—men are having a harder time," said Anne Allison, a professor of cultural anthropology at Duke University, according to The Atlantic. "The birth rate is down, even the coupling rate is down. And people will say the number-one reason is economic insecurity."

Newsweek reached out to the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C. for comment. This story will be updated with any response.

🌎 Everyone Is Awesome: Lego to launch first LGBTQ+ set
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/...first-lgbtq-set



In the “spraying room” at Lego HQ, tiny figurines are layered with bright, glossy paint before being placed on a rainbow-esque arch. The result, a waterfall of colour with 11 brand new minifigures striding purposefully towards an imagined brighter future, is the Danish toymaker’s inaugural LGBTQIA+ set, titled Everyone Is Awesome.

The colours of the stripes were chosen to reflect the original rainbow flag, along with pale blue, white and pink representing the trans community, and black and brown to acknowledge the diversity of skin tones and backgrounds within the LGBTQIA+ community.

In all but one case no specific gender has been assigned to the figures, who are intended to “express individuality, while remaining ambiguous”.

The exception, a purple minifigure with a highly stylised beehive wig, “is a clear nod to all the fabulous drag queens out there”, said the designer, Matthew Ashton, who initially created the set for his own desk.

“I’d moved offices, so wanted to make the space feel like home with something that reflected me and the LGBTQIA+ community I’m so proud to be a part of,” Ashton said.

But the set attracted attention and was soon in demand. “Other members of Lego’s LGBTQ+ community came by to tell me they loved it,” Ashton said. “So I thought, ‘maybe it’s something we should share’.” He also wanted to be more vocal in support of inclusivity.

“Growing up as an LGBTQ+ kid – being told what I should play with, how I should walk, how I should talk, what I should wear – the message I always got was that somehow I was ‘wrong’,” he said. “Trying to be someone I wasn’t was exhausting. I wish, as a kid, I had looked at the world and thought: ‘This is going to be OK, there’s a place for me’. I wish I’d seen an inclusive statement that said ‘everyone is awesome’.”

Ashton said he was really happy to work for a company that wants to be outspoken over such matters. Jane Burkitt, a fellow LGBTQIA+ employee at Lego who works in supply chain operations, agreed.

“I’ve been at Lego for six years and I’ve never hesitated to be myself here, which isn’t the case everywhere,” Burkitt said. “When I joined Lego, I hoped it would be an inclusive place – but I didn’t know. People like me wonder, ‘will I be welcome here?’ And the answer is yes – but this set means that, now, everyone knows it.”

The set goes on sale on 1 June, the start of Pride month, but a few Afols (adult fans of Lego) and Gayfols have been given a preview.

“This set means a lot,” said Flynn DeMarco, a member of the LGBTQIA+ Afol community and a contestant on the television show Lego Masters US. “Often LGBTQ+ people don’t feel seen, especially by corporations. There’s a lot of lip service and not a lot of action. So this feels like a big statement.”

Other LGBTQIA+ representations by Lego – including a tiny rainbow flag in a build of Trafalgar Square, and a bride and groom BrickHeadz sold separately, so that fans could put two women or two men together – have been subtler.

“This is much more overt,” said DeMarco, who hopes the set will help broaden people’s minds. “People look to a company such as Lego – a company they love and enjoy – and think, ‘Hey if it’s OK for Lego, maybe it’s OK for me, too.’”

And his own response? “For Lego to do something so inclusive, so full of joy – it made me smile, then cry, then smile a little more.”

To all brother and sister.
Please ignore this guy.
Ya'll can see all his other post and topic so much hatred toward others like word 'cibai' and 'bodo'. Ignore the attention seeker.

jin^manusia is probably this forum's most dedicated homophobe, I give him that.

Plus now that everyone is sort of locked in again, he's got more time in his hands.

Yeah, I guess.

One silver lining about his posts is at least they helps bumping this thread to stay on top of Serious Kopitiam. So I guess it's not too bad lol.




This post has been edited by internaldisputes: May 24 2021, 05:07 PM

Well, many homophobes are just not out of the closet yet. A gay friend of mine once said that most homophobes are just homophiles in denial

Ain't gonna lie my heart thumping when I saw Elliot Page shirtless pic. Things are getting well for him lol. 👍❤️

Yo TS I wonder if we should have special dedicated section for artist news/gossip posts? Because some people would get very upset whenever I shared them on Kopitiam section lol.

This thread is fine but since we are in Serious Kopitiam I don't think I should direct some stuff all in here.

This post has been edited by leftycall9: May 26 2021, 12:05 AM

He's hot! And the way he is very passionate about transgender rights makes me love him even more.

Feel free to post anything LGBTQ-related in this thread. I myself have posted things that are border-line gossipy in the past so I don't think it's really an issue.

Unless you meant something with less substance like thirst traps? I was thinking of opening a thread the other day in Hnggghhh centered around male thirst traps but never had the chance/courage to do so.

me cousin somehow never openly gay but he posts alot of IG stories of him and a very close male acquaintance

but theyre doing well so far, so no issues.

Understandable. For some gay people, social media posts with subtle hints like those are the next best thing if they can't say outright that they are gay. I'm also guilty of that sometimes.

yeah and since some even went as far as the dude meeting his family (my relatives) i suppose its all good going too

knowing how my family line is, i wouldve thought drama and anger and yelling

Haha...looking on the other side of things, yes it helps us stay on top.

Got some IG stuff here especially for butch lesbians and Asian guys but I don't think they're racy enough to fit into Hnggghhh section. That's why I never bother to post anything there lol.

Never mind this thread will work just fine.

🇺🇸 Companies with LGBT-Friendly Policies Perform Better
Source: https://www.thehrdirector.com/business-news...earch-suggests/



LGBT‐friendly corporate policies enhance firm performance, according to new research from Aalto University School of Business and the University of Vaasa.

The research conducted by Jukka Sihvonen, Assistant Professor at Aalto University School of Business, and his co-authors from the University of Vaasa – Veda Fatmy, John Kihn, and Sami Vähämaa, examined the association between LGBT‐friendly corporate policies and firm performance using data on 657 publicly traded US firms over the period 2003–2016, and found that LGBT-friendly policies may create value for the firm.

More specifically, the researchers found strong evidence that more LGBT‐friendly firms have higher profitability and higher stock market valuations.

“Our empirical findings demonstrate that LGBT‐friendly corporate policies pay off, and the documented positive relationship between LGBT friendliness and firm performance can be considered economically significant” says Sihvonen.

However, the findings did indicate that the positive effect of progressive LGBT policies on profitability and market valuation was more pronounced for firms located in more liberal states, while being weaker or non‐existent for firms located in more conservative states.

Nevertheless, the researchers did find that even for firms located in more socially conservative states, the effect of LGBT friendliness on firm performance is at worst neutral, suggesting that the adoption of LBGT‐friendly policies does not generally have detrimental repercussions.

But why does LGBT friendliness influence firm performance? According to the researchers, there are various potential reasons why.

“Previous studies have documented that LGBT‐friendly firms are associated with greater employee commitment, improved job satisfaction, increased employee productivity, and more altruistic workplace behaviour” says Sihvonen.

Furthermore, the researchers also express that LGBT‐friendly policies may improve competitiveness in the job market by fostering the firm’s ability to attract, recruit and retain talented employees.

Ultimately, on a broader scale, these findings can be considered to support the view that socially progressive corporate policies and diversity management is worthwhile, and should be considered across the board.

🇨🇳 Dior chooses Chinese transgender star as an ambassador for its new fragrance campaign
Source: https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beau...-face-their-new



Dior, the French house owned by LVMH, the largest luxury group in the world, is collaborating with China’s transgender celebrity Jin Xing for a campaign centred on the brand’s J’adore fragrance.

Dior announced the news on its Weibo account with a video in which Jin Xing talks about women’s empowerment.

Jin Xing is a former male ballet dancer and army colonel, and was the first person to go public about undergoing gender reassignment surgery in China. She has since become a prominent television presenter and has a significant following on social media.

This bold statement from a top luxury brand like Dior reflects some progress in the acceptance of the LGBT community in China, where the rights of transgender people are only partially recognised.

LGBT issues are still a taboo topic in China, where the community faces harsh consequences like ostracism, unemployment and even jail. A report from the Beijing LGBT Centre in 2017 found that, of 1,640 respondents, all but six had experienced domestic violence at the hands of parents or guardians after coming out.

In 2015, Beijing transgender woman Chao Xiaomi brought the transgender issue into the public arena after she was unable to use a bathroom in a shopping centre.

Chao told how she had first attempted to enter a men’s bathroom but was stopped by a janitor because she was wearing a dress. She then tried to go into a women’s room, but a security guard asked to see her ID; when seeing that it stated “male”, he called her a “pervert”.

In the face of widespread discrimination, NGOs and activists have pushed for change through lawsuits and the development of studies highlighting difficulties the community faces.

In spite of many setbacks, the LGBT community is fighting to be seen and heard, and many LGBT people are beginning to live more openly amid growing acceptance from society.

Good idea. You can open one dedicated for transwomen.