PM Prayut's BL conundrum, shameful scenes at London Pride.
THE SOFTEST OF POWER
It's an incontestable fact that Thai Boys' Love TV series are popular, and not just within Thailand only. In recent years, Thai BL has garnered fans in different parts of the world, launching several of its actors into famous stars. It's a bankable genre -- one that many, including the Thai government, have hoped to profit from.
No, PM Prayut is not commissioning a patriotic Yaoi series anytime soon. But, according to his spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, the PM applauded the effort in promoting BL drama as a soft power and tourism draw. Last month, the Tourism Authority of Thailand organised pilot tours for Japanese fans to visit places BL actors have gone to. There's also a plan to market these BL tour packages to draw in thousands of Japanese tourists.
Thailand has long been known as a gay paradise for its relatively open attitude towards LGBTI people, and the tourism authority has made sure to capitalise on that, even long before BL series came into the picture. Its "Go Thai Be Free" campaign was introduced to draw in LGBTI travellers almost a decade ago, at a time when conversations surrounding LGBTI rights weren't even commonly or widely discussed in the country.
But at the same time, isn't it funny that a country that offers little to no rights or protection for its LGBTI residents is trying to make money from foreign LGBTI people? From Go Thai Be Free to BL dramas, the state didn't hesitate to cash in on same-sex relationships and yet it withholds marriage equality. How insulting can that be?
Imagine if we can truly be a haven for LGBTI people worldwide. Imagine Thailand being the world destination of same-sex weddings in both ceremonial and legal senses, not just for foreigners but also for Thai LGBTI. Now, this is power. But will the Thai government be willing to go there?
HATERS GONNA HATE
Pride parades and LGBTI events have the power to attract the crowd. At the same time, they also draw conservative homophobes to the scene.
First, it was the London Pride. Celebrating its 50th anniversary and also a comeback after the pandemic, Pride in London was in full swing at the beginning of this month. The most viral moment caught on camera featured the young cast of Netflix's LGBTI teen drama Heartstopper dancing to Whitney Houston while flashing middle fingers to anti-LGBTI protesters. Actors Joe Locke and Sebastian Croft, with rainbow Pride flags tied around their neck like a cape, were bouncing up and down to the music in front of the old white men who were displaying hateful signs on the other side of the fences.
Later on Twitter, Locke shared a video from the scene with the caption: "Had to do my job properly." Croft tweeted: "Love always wins."
But while the London Pride was only met with a few pitiful protesters, it was another story in Seoul, South Korea, where the number of protesters actually overwhelmed LGBTI people and allies in attendance.
On July 16, the Seoul Queer Culture Festival was reportedly attended by 13,000 people after a two-year hiatus. Also in attendance was the US ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg, showing his support.
But just across the road, 15,000 anti-LGBTI protesters from Christian and conservative groups rallied against them. Police were on site to stop clashes between the two opposing groups if necessary, but there was no report of any altercation.
It will forever baffle me to see people being actively against other people's rights to love and be who they are. Maybe we'll need the Heartstopper team to disperse protesters from now on.
RAINBOW SCREENS
Here are some of the interesting queer things we've caught on our screens this month:
- The open-air film fest Krungthep Klang Plaeng pioneered by Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt features some interesting LGBTI titles. Among the line-up is Love Of Siam and The Blue Hour, arguably the go-to choices among Thai LGBTI films. But one unexpected choice was the sapphic Portrait Of A Lady On Fire. LGBTI people who attended the screening praised the inclusion and were admittedly in awe that a lesbian drama was publicly and openly screened with a few hundred people in attendance. Next on the line-up, Love Of Siam will be screened for free at Siam Square on Thursday at 7pm. The cast and crew will be in attendance.
- The much-anticipated Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 2 finally dropped. And amid all the bone-breaking tortures and guitar solos, the show has also thrown in what appears to be a love confession from Will (played by Noah Schnapp) to his best friend Mike (Finn Wolfhard). Will's sexuality has been under fan speculation for quite some time and it's now being put to rest especially after Schnapp himself confirmed it in a recent interview that Will is indeed gay. It is expected that Will's secret affection will be further explored in the series' next and final season.
- Dominating the cinema in recent weeks is Thor: Love And Thunder, and the film turned out unexpectedly pretty queer. We get to see King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) flirting with a woman and talking about a slain ex-girlfriend, plus Korg (director Taika Waititi) marrying a fellow rock warrior called Dwayne. We also learn that for Korg's species Kronan, two Kronan men would meet in a cave and hold hands to make babies. The queerness was mostly welcomed, but viewers were also left to wonder if this is just a queerbaiting attempt and wondered why Valkyrie's story could not be expanded so much more after all the previous talk about her finding a queen.
- Popular Japanese series Cherry Magic and What Did You Eat Yesterday? see their continuation on a big screen with feature film sequels arriving in the cinema this month. Cherry Magic The Movie follows colleagues-turned-boyfriends Adachi and Kurosawa as they tackle a long-distance relationship, coming out to their loved ones, and even the idea of marriage. In What Did You Eat Yesterday?, middle-aged gay couple Shiro and Kenji contemplate the next step of their relationship. The two movies lightly weave in the issue of LGBTI rights in Japan in their lighthearted portrayals. Audiences should watch the TV series first before seeing the films. Cherry Magic is streaming on WeTV and What Did You Eat Yesterday? is available on Netflix.
