Queer from the Straits: Recent Episodes
Queer Straits
Queer from the Straits is an exploration of queer life in Southeast Asia. Join two lifelong friends as they talk about their own queer experiences and have guests on talk about topics and themes under the LGBTQIA+ kaleidoscope.
D and O speak to Alaric Tan, Executive Director of The Greenhouse, a substance addiction recovery centre for marginalised communities. Alaric shared his personal story about addiction and the role conversion therapy played in his addiction. We learned about how addiction is often a symptom of underlying trauma and the importance of a trauma-informed approach to recovery. There's so much to learn here about addiction and how to support someone who is using substances. Check it out! CW that Alaric does talk about the physical abuse he experienced as a child from family members and that he experienced conversion therapy. He does not describe either in detail but it may be upsetting. For those who have struggled with addiction, please take care while listening. This episode may be triggering. <3 Learn more about The Greenhouse at: https://thegreenhouse.sg/. If you would like to support The Greenhouse with a donation, check out their fundraising campaign here.
We speak to Al and Ames about how they met and became best friends, and how accessible COVID-19 vaccines, hormone therapy and mental health support are for trans people in Malaysia. Give them a follow on Twitter if you want to talk to them more or get a hold of their community-created healthcare guide. Al can be found at @autoph0s and Ames is @rbbrmlk. You can also email us at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com to get in touch. Follow us on Instagram @queerfromthestraits and Twitter @queerstraits.
In our third ever Unplugged episode, we talk about heartbreaks, heartaches, and all affairs of the heart…..yeah we’re tipsy.
In Part 2 with our conversation with Rayner Tan, we elucidate what Undetectable = Untransmittable (U = U) means. We provide a brief history of H.I.V and examine the global journey between its emergence and now, in which people living with H.I.V have life expectancy similar to that of people in the general population. Finally, we also discuss the merits and challenges behind the U = U messaging campaign.
To get in touch with Rayner, hit him up on Twitter and Instagram @raynerkjtan.
If you would like to have more information on the charities and NGOs we mention in the episode, check out Action for Aids Singapore and The Greenhouse.
You can email us at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com to get in touch. Follow us on Instagram @queerfromthestraits and Twitter @queerstraits.
In this episode, we welcome Rayner Tan to the pod, and speak to him about his research into what prevents gay and bisexual men from accessing H.I.V testing in Singapore, the continuing stigma around H.I.V, as well as H.I.V criminalisation in the Little Red Dot.
To get in touch with Rayner, hit him up on Twitter @raynerkjtan.
This is Part 1 of our conversation with Rayner. Stay tuned for Part 2 where we give a brief history of H.I.V, and discuss the merits and challenges behind the Undetectable = Untransmittable (U = U) messaging.
You can email us at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com to get in touch. Follow us on Instagram @queerfromthestraits and Twitter @queerstraits.
Our favourite disaster bisexual M returns to the show to talk about how she came into her sexuality, what it means to navigate her bisexuality in a straight relationship and the trope of the dangerous bisexual.
Content warning: There is a mention of sexual assault at 9:10.
You can email us at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com to get in touch. Follow us on Instagram @queerfromthestraits and Twitter @queerstraits.
After two and a half months, we almost forgotten how to podcast. Almost! But we're backkkkkkkk! In this episode we talk about the state of Malaysia (bad!), our respective experiences with COVID-19 vaccines, and juxtapose the vaccine roll out in Malaysia and Singapore (meh in different ways), and give you a little preview of what you can expect in future episodes. We also spill some tea on our dating lives over the summer and you may be surprised (but most probably not :))
If you would like to contribute to SEED Foundation, a trans-led NGO, and their mutual aid fund, check out their page here. Check out Refuge for the Refugees for an organisation that distributes food aid to refugee families.
In this episode, we speak to a straight ally, "K", who has known O for more than two freaking decades! We dissect on what it means to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, discuss the three phases of the 'allyship' spectrum, and provide some tangible tips to our straight ally friends on what you can do to help the community.
We also discuss the prevalence of 'cancel culture', and yes we discuss that infamous Today Online article. For more nuanced take on said article, read this peer review by Rice Media and this this op-ed on Coconuts Singapore.
Have a listen and let us know what you think at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
It's our second Unplugged episode, where we talk about the latest queer news across South East Asia, and hear from you, our listeners.
In this episode, we react to the landmark ruling by the Federal Courts of Malaysia declaring Selangor state's syariah law criminalising unnatural sex unconstitutional, and read two of our listener's messages about how they feel about this seismic event.
In a return to segments, we play #2021Bingo, where we both predict what is going to happen for the rest of 2021, we also have a short #PSAfortheStraights segment, and last but not least we discuss Asia's first gender-affirming surgery all the way back in 1971 in our #LocalLore segment.
To get in touch with us, email us at queerfromthestraights@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter @QueerStraits and on Instagram @QueerfromtheStraits.
Stay safe, and don't forget to subscribe, follow, and rate us on wherever you are listening to our pod.
xoxo
What does the legal path to decriminalising LGBTQ identities in Malaysia look like? We talked to Michelle Yesudas, an international human rights lawyer who has worked in Malaysia and Myanmar to find out. TLDR it's not all about the law.
If you want to learn more about LGBTQ organisations in Myanmar, check out &Proud, Equality Myanmar and Michelle's piece at Queer Lapis. To find out what's happening in Myanmar, check out this explainer and search the hashtags #CivilDisobedienceMyanmar and #WhatsHappeninginMyanmar on Twitter.
To kick things off in 2021, D and O welcome another guest on the show!
Joshua Simon, a radio presenter and music artist from Singapore, talks to us about his podcast The SG Boys, and why he started it, why queer representation matters to him, and what he's gone through to stay true to himself. Have a listen and let us know what you think at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
In our final episode of Queer from the Straits for 2020, D does her first solo interview with Erik, a friend from Indonesia who is a trans non-binary person. Erik shares his journey coming into his identity, sheds light on how online friendships and romances were a lifeline to him early in life, and what it's like to be trans in Indonesia. D and O also give a little primer on some of the terms used in the episode. If you have more resources that cis allies should read, send them to queerfromthestraits@gmail.com. Please leave us a review and subscribe!
It's Episode 8! And tbh we were feeling a little bit lazy. So, join us for an unplugged episode where D and O chat about Stories for a Cause: A Queer Malaysian Comic Anthology and look back on past episodes. Have they changed their minds about anything? What was the hardest for O to talk about? Check it out. You can get your copy of the comic here from @Tabung Pelangi. The proceeds go to SEED Foundation, a trans-led non-profit. If you are interested in checking out The Fixed Stars, the book D mentioned, here's a link. As always, follow us on Instagram @queerfromthestraits and Twitter @queerstraits, or reach out to us at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com. Don't forget to like, subscribe and review our podcast! xoxo
In this week's episode, we have Becca D'bus, once dubbed "Singapore's most outspoken drag queen" on the pod to discuss what drag culture means , the impact of the pandemic on the drag scene, and the influence of RuPaul's Drag Race on local drag.
To support Becca, please follow her at @beccadbus, and definitely check out her newly launched inititiave Cover Your Pie Hole to get your face masks.
As always, we love hearing from you! Email us at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com. Don't forget to rate, like and subscribe to our podcast, or just help us amplify this podcast to your friends.
Also, go ahead and follow us now on Instagram @queerfromthestraits and on Twitter @queerstraits!
xoxo
While we grapple with the global pandemic, we roll in the virtual red carpet for a guest host this week, "M" to talk about mental health. We each discuss our struggles with mental health in the past, present, and future, as well as talk about the ways in which we cope in the year that still is. They say hindsight is 20/20, so if you or anyone you know are suffering from mental health exhaustion, check out some of these local LGBTQ+ affirming counselling. If you are in Malaysia, check out @pluho_org; @befrienderskl, and plusos. If you are in Singapore, check out: @oogachaga; @sayonisg; and @heartknockscounselling. As always, we love hearing from you. email us at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com. Don't forget to rate, like and subscribe to our podcast, or just help us amplify this podcast to your friends. xoxo
In Part II of Dating Apps, we talk about racism on gay dating apps and how preferences are not "just" preferences, discuss a listener question and share some happy queer dating stories! If you want to check out the sexuality workbook Reclaiming Sexy that D talks about, you can order it from Cempaka Collective.
If you want to read more about the topic of "racial preferences" and dating, check out: "When do our dating preferences become racist?", "The myth behind racial dating preferences" which is about a queer Asian American man's experience unlearning his racial dating preferences and this study about how expressing racial dating preferences makes people less date-able.
Check out @klqwdg_personals on Instagram if you want to post a personal or give non-app dating a whirl in Malaysia. If you are across the Straits in Singapore, check out Out in SG on Facebook or the ProutApp (various links).
As always, we love hearing from you. email us at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com, and rate us on Apple Podcasts, or just help us amplify this podcast to your friends.
xoxo
After three wonderful episodes, we have decided to break up.......this episode into two parts. In the first of our two-part series on Dating Apps, we dish on our experiences on the virtual dating scene, from the benefits to the pitfalls, from the good to the bad, and from the purposeful to our pet peeves. In our segment this week, we play a game we called #QueerQuips and we invite you to laugh with or laugh at us. Enjoy. We love hearing from our listeners, so please write in at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram @QueerFromTheStraits and on Twitter @QueerStraits. Catch you next week, folks!
On this episode of "Queer from the Straits", we talk about our experiences with bullying and microaggressions from our straight peers. We talk about how it's impacted us, how we wish people would react when called out and discuss some listeners' stories. Trigger warning: this episode contains slurs directed towards the LGBTQ+ community. At minutes 8:06-8:15, 19:25, 20:18, 21:10, 31:30-36:00, 36:24-36:58 we say these slurs. We love hearing from you! So please write in at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram @QueerFromTheStraits and on Twitter @QueerStraits. We love you!
In this week’s episode of “Queer from the Straits”, your two hosts walk down the proverbial aisle and land on opposite sides as they discuss and debate the concept of (gay) marriage. We also dissect Plato’s ‘Analogy of the Divided Line’ and how the age-old thought experiment applies in today’s queer world. Write in to us with your comments, questions and d**k pics to queerfromthestraits@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram @QueerFromTheStraits and on Twitter @QueerStraits. Keep on keeping on — and tell all your friends to listen to our podcast!
In the inaugural episode of “Queer from the Straits”, your two fantastically queer Asian hosts talk about how they met 18 years ago, the difference between “Coming Out” and “Letting In”. We also delve into the surprising queer history of Kelantan, a Malaysian state typically associated with conservatism. We recommend checking out www.queerlapis.com and @pelangicampaign and @KLQueerWomenDG on Twitter to find other queer folks. Disclaimer, O and D are not affiliated to either of these organisations. To get in touch with us, send us an email at queerfromthestraits@gmail.com, and rate us in your comments.