Fridae

Meet 20-year-old gay activist and mountain climber Cason Crane, who has raised US$100,000 for the Trevor Project which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBT youths in the US, by climbing the highest mountain on each of the seven continents.

Iron Chef, lesbian and mother of four Cat Cora was in Singapore this week for the opening of her first and only restaurant outside of the United States. She talks to Fridae about family life, coming out in the 80s and how she deals with being openly gay in countries that may be less accepting.

Fridae's Hong Kong Correspondent Nigel Collett interviews Arthur Tam, columnist for Time Out Hong Kong and presenter of the new RTHK Radio 3 English-language LGBT show, From Top to Bottom.

A rising star in Cambodia's contemporary art scene, Vuth Lyno creates photographic portraits of LGBTs in his country. Fridae talks to him about his work before his presentation in Singapore as part of TheatreWorks's Superintense on Sat, 19 Jan. His exhibition Thoamada II will be open from 26 Jan to 2 Mar in Phnom Penh.

Lawyer and United Nations Special Rapporteur Anand Grover is known internationally to be the driving force behind the Naz Foundation's landmark legal case which saw the Delhi High Court in 2009 decriminalise gay sex which was then prohibited under the Indian Penal Code. He shares his passion for the causes he takes up and what keeps him going in an exclusive Fridae interview.

Best known for Rainbow Massacre, legendary Malaysian drag queen Shelah is playing her final show in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, Nov 23. Ng Yi-Sheng speaks to actor Edwin Sumun about showbiz, activism and how the reemergence of Shelah was in response to an ignorant local politician who said that pondans and mak nyahs should not be allowed to exist.

Fridae's Ng Yi-Sheng speaks with transgender writer, entertainer and activist Tiara Tiar Bahtiar, who had recently launched a book of anecdotes, poems and photographs of local transgender culture, about growing up and how the Bugis people traditionally believe that humans can be grouped into five different gender categories.

HIV expert and author Elizabeth Pisani has been on a mission for over a decade to get policymakers to understand how real-world behaviours influence HIV transmission and to overhaul antiquated, ineffective prevention strategies. She speaks to Fridae about her work in Indonesia, trends in gay Asia, and more.

From Aug 2-18, Toy Factory Productions presents Purple, a gritty drama based on the life of a Singaporean transgender woman. Fridae interviews the company director and playwright Goh Boon Teck.

Exclusive! Fridae's Hong Kong correspondent Nigel Collett and reporter Tony Ed Lo meet Booker Prize winner Alan Hollinghurst, author of the new novel The Stranger’s Child – his first since The Line Of Beauty won the Prize in 2004. His first four books, written over a span of almost 20 years, explores gay life in England, past and present but the latest takes a slight departure.