LGBTQ Performance and Digital Media in Singapore and Malaysia: Cultural and Political Formation in Transnational Context

• In Event: LGBTQ Around the World: Global Settings

Abstract

This paper examines LGBTQ content in performance spaces and digital media in Singapore and Malaysia, within the context of LGBTQ content on electronic mass media (television and film) being much more restricted in both countries. Drawing from interview data, ethnographic observation, and analysis of digital media, I discuss the importance of digital media for LGBTQ theater, public performance, and activism, and the transnational flows of cultural agents and content, both between Singapore and Malaysia, and between Singapore, Malaysia, and the West. In conclusion, I suggest further research on how to theorize “public” participation, the tensions of transnational affiliations around LGBTQ issues, as well as the extent to which performance spaces and digital media continue to constitute the most vibrant spaces for LGBTQ expression in Singapore and Malaysia.

Author

• Eve C Ng, Ohio University