Fridae

With the festival being slammed by religious groups and even a Malay Supremacist organisation, Deputy-inspector general of police Khalid Abu Bakar has declared a blanket ban on all events related to the 'Seksualiti Merdeka' festival.

British Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Perth in October did not adopt sweeping recommendations for change that included calling for the repeal of anti-homosexual criminal laws. We are not surprised. But the door has not been slammed shut. Doug Sanders reports.

Nearly 100 African NGOs and activists have appealed to the British government not to cut aid to African countries after British PM David Cameron threatened to seek to reduce foreign aid to Commonwealth countries which persecute gays.

Jennifer Chang, one-half of a lesbian couple who left their San Francisco home in June to travel the world for a year in search of “Supergays” who are creating change for the LGBTQ community, shares her experiences about negotiating coming out to her extended family in Taipei.

Malaysia's only sexuality rights festival is back for its fourth edition with its theme – Queer Without Fear – to "highlight how homophobia and transphobia have negatively affected and continues to affect the lives of untold numbers of Malaysians who are discriminated against and persecuted because of their sexual orientations and gender identities."

Commonwealth countries will be urged to repeal anti-gay laws, which are still on the books in 41 of 54 Commonwealth member countries, at a leaders' summit to be held in Perth, Australia this week.

As Shanghai’s week-long pride festival kicked off over the weekend, the festival website with details of the events – shanghaipride.com – has been effectively blocked by a firewall.

Singapore is still waiting for the Court of Appeal to rule on a constitutional challenge to our gay sex law. Fridae looks at the personalities behind the case.

In the run-up to the Singapore Writers Festival, Fridae is interviewing some of the openly queer writers who’ll be featured in the program. This week, we profile Singaporean web diva Pat Law.

Dustin Lance Black to GQ: “Leaning on lies, myths and stereotypes about gay people is hateful, harmful and outdated. It’s not the 1950s anymore GQ, it’s 2011 and it’s time to grow up.”