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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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] to get in touch. Follow us on Instagram @queerfromthestraits and Twitter @queerstraits.

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected], 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 [email protected], 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 [email protected], 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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. Don't forget to like, subscribe and review our podcast! xoxo