Fridae

Fridae's reporter in Hong Kong Tony Ed Lo meets Fan Popo, this year's HKLGFF Prism Award winner and one of the faces behind the Beijing Queer Film Festival; and John Badalu, the founder of the Q Film Festival in Indonesia who share the challenges of organising their respective festivals.

Singapore-born Berlin-based dancer/choreographer Ming Poon has just begun a two year artistic residency at the Substation and is seeking interviewees for a two-year project about people’s attitudes towards HIV and people with HIV.

From 1 to 15 December, Singaporean lesbian artist Tania De Rozario will exhibit A Language of Longing, a collection of works inspired by relationships between women. She speaks to us about her art – and about her recent victory in the Golden Point Awards for poetry.

Travel agents and operators in India are gearing up to promote itself as a LGBT-friendly travel destination despite not getting any support from the Tourism Ministry. Sylvia Tan reports from New Delhi.

The plaintiff, publicly known as Ms W and who has since 2008 been fighting for her the right to marry, will now take her case to the Court of Final Appeal after the Court of Appeal last Friday refused her the right to legally marry a man.

On Sunday 4 December, four cities in Asia will hold SlutWalk, a rally against rape and sexual shaming. Fridae speaks to the queer, straight and trans women behind the Singapore edition.

British singer-songwriter Elton John appeared with husband David Furnish and baby Zachary at the 20th World Orchid Conference in Singapore last weekend where he had an orchid named after him.

The decision to rebrand the iconic gay parade as the 'Sydney Mardi Gras' as part of the festival’s new strategy to attract broader local, national and international audiences has got Sydneysiders debating the removal of the two words.

The Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival kicks off today with more than 30 full-length and short films to be screened over two weeks, and will feature more Asian content than in previous years.

The dress code this year is "Sexy and Act Out". Despite this, only a handful of drag queens and a few topless "cowboy-bears" in leather tights were spotted. Although Fridae's reporter Tony Ed Lo overheard negative comments from the bystanders about inappropriate outfits, others complained that there weren’t enough hot shirtless men on display.