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BBC World Service, East Asia Today, 8 August
2001
Interview with Stuart Koe, COO, Fridae
by BBC World Service
Nation Party, East Asia Today, 8 August 2001, 10 pm
(+8 GMT)
BBC: Finally, Singapore's usually
low profile gay community, as I speak, is holding a
coming out party. It's a bold move in a country where
homosexual acts are outlawed and where the criminal
code does not even acknowledge the existence of lesbianism.
The event is being hailed as
Singapore's answer to Sydney's Mardi Gras and Sleaze
Ball Parties.
First, how's it been going -
I asked one of the organisers, Stuart Koe, whom I dragged
off the dance floor to a phone in a quieter place.
Stuart: The party is going very well, everyone is
arriving and we are getting a very good crowd, everyone
is really out for the party. I think it is going very
well, tonight.
BBC: Now, one of the attractions
is Body Painting. Has that started yet? What does it
involve?
Stuart: Well, actually the events that are scheduled
for tonight include a pageant. We have gays coming in
from around the region. We have two separate rooms,
one for the women and the main room for the party. In
the women's room, we have a foam party. Outside, we
have the chill out zone, where we have body painters.
We have stalls set up by all the gay and lesbian business
in Singapore. We have different representatives just
from every walk of the community here in Singapore.
BBC: You said that there would
be a foam party in the women's room. What is that all
about?
Stuart: It is basically a plastic barricade, and they
blow foam into it; it's as if you are going to have
a big bubble bath.
BBC: Are the women clothed or
are they in bikinis and stuff?
Stuart: All the women are clothed.
BBC: What's the idea? What goes
on behind the foam?
Stuart: Well, I have no idea; the men aren't welcome
in the women's room.
BBC: Now, tell me, on a more
serious note, why is the party being held? Well, there
are some who might say, you know, the Singapore gay
community is given a certain amount of space by the
government. But this kind of in your face event might
risk a bad reaction from them. What's going on? Why
are you having the party?
Stuart: I don't think we intend for this to be an
in your face event at all. When we started planning
the event, it really was as a means to celebrate National
Day, which occurs tomorrow on the 9th of August and
it was really a chance for a group of gays and lesbians
and their friend to get together to have a dance party.
BBC: What do you say to those
who would argue that there is precious little for Singapore's
gay community to celebrate? You know homosexuality is
illegal or homosexual acts are illegal and there is
a huge endemic prejudice against gay men and women in
Singapore.
Stuart: Well, definitely there is a huge prejudice
against gay man and women in Singapore. As you stated
very correctly, homosexual acts are illegal in Singapore.
However being gay or lesbian is not illegal and certainly,
it's not illegal being a gay and lesbian person in Singapore
throwing a dance party and neither is it illegal for
a gay and lesbian (person) in Singapore to celebrate
National Day along with the rest of the country. So,
it's definitely a grey area - the actual statute that
says that homosexuality is illegal is a law that we
inherited from the British in the 19th Century. That's
what we have to live with but it certainly doesn't stop
gays and lesbians from existing in Singapore. It certainly
doesn't stop us from living our lives normally like
anybody else.
BBC: Stuart, thanks a million,
get back to the party and have fun. Bye Bye.
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