A film slated to be screened at the recently concluded Indignation Film Festival in Singapore had to be withdrawn after it was classified by censors as "Not Allowed for All Ratings". Jun Zubillaga-Pow, director of the festival, says such decisions only drives would-be viewers to seek other means to view the disallowed films.
Is the LGBT a marginalised community rather than a minority in Singapore because of its censorship policies? What is the role of the media and censorship? Singapore lawyer George Hwang argues that by censoring gay content indiscriminately, the authorities have breached or infringed the rights of the media and the public.
Gay Asian viewers have expressed their outrage that the words "gay" and "lesbian" in Milk writer Dustin Lance Black and actor Sean Penn's Oscar speeches have been muted out during the recorded broadcasts.
A censorship manager with Singapore's largest free-to-air channel warns that "(e)ven a cooking show can be dangerous" as just one remark can "normalise (the) gay lifestyle." Meanwhile, Singapore's newly appointed Attorney-General warns of human rights "fanatics."
The authorities has fined a free-to-air station S$15,000 for airing a programme that showed a gay couple and their adopted baby; on the same day, a segment of the Ellen DeGeneres Show where the host condemned homophobia and the recent murder of a 15-year-old gay student was glaringly snipped by the same TV station.
Fridae first reported that part of director Cynthia Wade's speech made during the acceptance of her Oscar award was snipped when it was shown on Singapore TV... Alex Au attempts to decipher what's allowed and what's not based on replies by the broadcasting authority and broadcaster.
2006 saw a bumper crop of gay-themed movies screened in Singapore. In light of the recent ban of gay Singaporean photographer's book on Asian stars in the citystate among other incidences, Alex Au examines the censors' rationale of its decisions.
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