Singapore gay history: Encyclopedia II - Singapore gay history - The 1980s

Singapore gay history - The 1980s

The early 80s was a period of widespread prosperity and new freedoms which saw the opening of clubs like Shadows, Marmota, Legend and Niche which catered to a predominantly gay clientèle even though they were not exclusively gay. These discoes would be closed by the time of the mid-80s, for unclear reasons, to be replaced by weekly Sunday Night Gay Parties or "Shadow Nights" run by the former management of Shadows (affectionately known as the "Shadow Management"). These "Shadow Nights" were roving events held at semi-permanent venues which included Rascals (at the Pan Pacific Hotel), Heartthrob (at Melia at Scotts), The Gate (at Orchard Hotel), Music World (in Katong) and Studebaker's which later morphed into Venom (at Pacific Plaza). It is interesting to note that men's night parties held since Studebaker's were no longer run by the "Shadow Management"

These events were now officially sanctioned and no longer discouraged by their managements. No Police raids at these establishments took place. With these weekly gatherings for energetic dancing to let off steam and meet new friends, homosexuals felt the first bonds of a relatively cohesive community- a warm feeling of being welcomed into a new brotherhood, in contradistinction to erstwhile isolation, alienation and loneliness for many.

Distant rumblings of a nebulous entity dubbed the 'gay plague', later standardised in nomenclature as AIDS, were heard emanating from America. There was some relief when US doctors discovered that it affected not exclusively gays, but also Haitians and haemophiliacs. However, it caused some local homosexuals to cast a wary eye on Caucasians and promiscuous Singaporeans returning from Western countries. The possibility that it would become a problem here seemed remote at the time.

It came as a shock when the first case of local HIV infection was reported in 1985. It galvanised a group of healthcare personnel (both gay and straight) to set up a non-governmental organization (NGO) called Action For AIDS (AFA) in 1988 which provided support and counseling for AIDS victims as well as educating the public on safe sex. AFA was not technically part of the Singapore gay movement and has been careful to present itself as an NGO dealing with a public health issue. However, a significant portion of the energy and leadership behind it has been provided by gay people and in many practical ways AFA has rallied homosexuals around a cause.

A gap in the local pink economy, which provided no outlet for men to have sex with other men on its premises, prompted many to travel to Bangkok. With its much vaunted acceptance of homosexuals and wild nightlife, Thailand became the destination of choice for gays seeking to indulge their carnal fantasies. Many returned with the hope that Singapore could one day be as open and tolerant of homosexuality as their near-neighbour was.

Cruising areas like Hong Lim Park, Boat Quay, back alleys in the Central Business District and Tanjong Pagar, swimming pools, Fort Road Beach and public toilets all experienced greater throughput. Police patrols to these areas were sporadically seen and on rare occasions, individuals had their IC numbers recorded, but for the most part, they were left alone to pursue their yearnings and no arrests were made.

From the mid-80's onwards, pubs and karaoke bars like Babylon and Inner Circle started to sprout up along Tanjong Pagar. Sizable groups of gay men could be seen milling about outside these establishments especially on weekends. This, along with cruising activity at nearby Ann Siang Hill and the surrounding back alleys gave Tanjong Pagar Road the reputation of being Singapore's Castro Street, after its San Francisco counterpart.

Large bookshops like Borders, Kinokuniya, Tower Books and even MPH responded to the growing body of gay literature mainly from America by discreetly stocking these books along with those on women's issues in sections euphemistically entitled 'Gender Studies'. With strong demand from the local gay community, the books eventually occupied most of the shelf space. In the late 90's, the red herring 'Gender Studies' moniker was replaced by a more frank title of 'Alternative Literature', which although a step closer to the truth, still falls short of the ideally accurate 'Gay and Lesbian Literature' by which it is known in the West. Straight salespeople would sometimes look curiously at patrons who hung around for long periods at these sections to see what sort of people read these books. In the late 80's, pictorial calenders of handsome, hunky, bare-chested Asian men also made their appearance, even in thoroughly local bookshops such as Popular Bookstore, a phenomenon which the authorities appeared to have no qualms about.

Individual artists, poets and writers became more expressive of their sexuality in their work, further imparting a sublime cultural sheen to local gay life.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The 1980s", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki