“The “little representation” on Singapore screens is “along the lines of very unfortunate negative depictions or portrayals of trans characters, playing into very hurtful stereotypes of trans people as either criminals or deviant,” said Leow Yangfa, executive director of Oogachaga, a nonprofit offering counselling to LGBTQ people.”

“Mr Leow Yangfa, executive director of Oogachaga, said it shows there is “no benefit to society” in maintaining these convictions, not even under the pretext of protecting public morality.

“It sets an important tone that the government was not just paying lip service when it led the way in repealing 377A in parliament in 2022, and that it is prepared to take proactive action in righting past wrongs,” added Mr Leow.”

“Decriminalisation was only the “starting line of the long race towards full equality”, said Leow Yangfa, the executive director of LGBTQ counselling group Oogachaga.

“Some may assume that the next lap, or maybe even the finishing line, is marriage equality. In fact, achieving marriage equality would only be just one of the many laps along the way, there are more laps to go,” he said, adding that this included equal treatment and protection in areas like education, healthcare, legal gender recognition and media representation.””

“Mr Leow Yangfa, executive director of Oogachaga, a community-based, non-profit, professional organisation working with the LGBTQ+ community, said it is difficult for male sexual assault victims to seek professional support or make a police report.

“This could be due to the fear of not being believed, a fear shared by female victims. There is also the shame about how he (the victim) may not have been ‘man enough’ to prevent the sexual violence.””

“Mr Leow said it might be helpful to reframe the perspective that gender-neutral toilets are only “important” to members of the LGBTQ community. Gender-neutral toilets are useful to people outside the LGBTQ community as well, added Mr Leow.

Gender-neutral toilets can be used by many groups of people, including trans and gender-diverse people, the elderly, parents with young children, wheelchair users and other people with disabilities.

“This is to avoid the popular misconception that ‘LGBTQ+ people are looking for special treatment’. We are not. It is an issue of accessing public facilities in order to fulfil a basic bodily function,” he said.”

“Leow Yangfa, its executive director, says inclusivity is a matter of commitment, effort and planning. Companies that wish to show their support should do so beyond the confines of Pride Month, he adds. “They need to recognise that their LGBTQ+ staff, consumers, suppliers and stakeholders are still queer the rest of the year, from July 1 to May 31.””

““There is research and professional experience to show that faith and spirituality can be an important resource for maintaining and improving mental health, especially for minority groups,” said Leow Yangfa, a registered social worker and executive director of Oogachaga, “a community-based nonprofit organisation working with LGBTQ+ individuals, couples and families.” Leow continued: “When such religious counselling crosses into the realm of pseudoscience and scientifically unproven practices, it becomes harmful and unethical. For example, when mental health practitioners choose to incorporate their religious beliefs into their professional practice, especially in their attempts to change the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of their LGBTQ+ clients.””

“Beliefs around gender identity are deeply personal. But LGBT+ rights groups say that just because you don’t agree with a colleague’s beliefs on gender identity doesn’t mean you can’t stay respectful and professional.

“This is called professional behaviour, and applies to any workplace,” says Leow Yangfa, executive director of counselling and support group Oogachaga. ”

“We can all be allies too
Unfortunately, we still live in a world where homophobia, biphobia and transphobia are very much prevalent. While we can collectively say that we want equality, simply uttering these words isn’t enough.

Sometimes, it’s easy to lose sight of the importance of allyship while living life with cisgender privilege. We don’t get scrutinised and harassed for our behaviour, and we can engage in public displays of affection without the fear of being attacked. ”

“This year, fintech company Revolut decided to get in on Pride with a collaboration with local non-profit LGBTQ organisation Oogachaga which provides those in the LGBTQ community with emotional support services and counselling. The companies came together to launch a special-edition pride themed card called the Diversity Card.

In discussing the well-received collaboration, Leow Yangfa, executive director of Oogachaga said, “We attribute this successful collaboration to a variety of factors, including a conscientious effort by the global brand, in this case Revolut, to proactively reach out to and closely consult with a local community partner, in this case Oogachaga, in their implementation plans.”

“As a local non-profit that has been continuously supporting Singapore’s LGBTQ community since our founding in 1999, we are very much in tune with the needs and perspectives of our clients and community members, and as such we are able to advise our business partners whenever they approach us with ideas for collaboration that potentially benefit us,” he said.”