Growing up gay in Singapore.... with Andee Chua

So I’m going to be honest. I kinda stalked Andee Chua late in 2020 to be a guest on my podcast. There aren’t too many “out” gay men in Singapore and I saw him as a bit of an activist* due to a joyous photo of Andee and his boyfriend.  The photo was for a campaign for the W hotel to promote staycations and support the queer community in September 2020. The campaign went viral on social media and we saw the good and the bad of Singapore society.

You see same-sex sexual activity between males is illegal in Singapore, even if it is consensual and takes place in private. This law is generally not well enforced however because same-sex relationships are not recognized under the law, there are many challenges for LGBTIQ+ people including not being able to marry, not being able to adopt children as a couple and not having anti-discrimination protection under law.

We started the conversation by talking about this law and then went on to the challenges of growing up gay when there isn’t many role models around, coming out to your family, being out and proud on social media and why representation matters.

Andee is passionate about building and supporting culture and community, and so created Kampung Collective to be a platform for learning, and sharing of knowledge and to embrace diversity.  

 *side note: I have since learnt that Andee refers to himself as a representative, not an activist and we talk about the difference in our conversation….

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