That’s how I got started.”īenny Prawira, a psychologist who works in suicide prevention, said works of art such as films and TV shows can evoke positive reinforcement for people undergoing emotional stress. Initially, I kept seeing photos of Brightwin on my friends’ social media and got curious about him. “I started watching four months ago but now I’m a hardcore fan. Sultan, from Jambi, is new to Thai BL dramas but is smitten. On Instagram, boasts more than 4,700 followers.īL fans are a diverse group. The Facebook group BL Fans Indo has more than 3,700 members. The Twitter account has over 44,000 followers.
Although the country’s criminal code - written during the Dutch colonial period - makes no mention of homosexuality, a new draft bill is currently being debated in parliament which would impose draconian clauses outlawing same-sex relations and premarital sex, among other things.Īgainst this backdrop, the country’s LGBT community – and even some straight women – have sought escapism and comfort in BL dramas. In Indonesia, gay sex is punishable by caning in the conservative province of Aceh. Same-sex marriage is legal in Taiwan, while Singapore has a colonial-era law criminalising homosexuality (although it is not enforced) and Malaysia’s LGBT community has faced persecution by religious authorities. While the bill avoids the term “marriage”, it will ensure many of the benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.Īcross Asia, attitudes towards LGBT issues range from liberal to harsh. These shows are screened on mainstream TV stations during prime-time evening slots in Thailand and later streamed on YouTube, reflecting the Southeast Asian nation’s relative tolerance towards the LGBT community.Įarlier this year, Thailand approved a draft bill which, if passed by parliament, will recognise same-sex “civil partnerships”. The platform’s figures show its BL audience share has risen from 5 per cent to 34 per cent since 2019.
LINE TV, the free streaming platform which has been broadcasting BL dramas since 2016, has more than 30 series stockpiled for future release. The BL subgenre is inspired by yaoi, a Japanese form of homoerotic fiction featuring a romance between a masculine and feminine boy, which are often created and enjoyed by heterosexual women.īetween 20, around 57 series were produced and released in Thailand under the BL genre. These TV series provided comfort food for my mental well-being.”
I started watching What the Duck 1 and 2. “For the first time, I felt it was OK not to have anyone in my life. “My first ever Thai series was Coz You’re My Tee, which was a corny teenage drama but it somehow made me feel better,” said Pahlevi.
Judge John Aylmer adjourned the case to hear evidence from the boy.Six years ago, Jakarta resident Reza Pahlevi, 36, had sunk into a depression, believing he had no prospects of finding love as a gay man in conservative Muslim-majority Indonesia.īut watching a subgenre of Thai romance dramas depicting erotic relationships between male characters, known as Boys Love (BL), helped the urban professional find acceptance. The man told the psychologist: “I’m not that kind of person and I’m disgusted with myself. However, the psychologist added that he found no evidence of any interest in paedophilia. He said a report from a forensic clinical psychologist found the man to be immature and introverted and that he has difficulty recognising his bisexuality. She added he is deeply ashamed of what had happened and is willing to accept any punishment that came his way.Ĭolm Smyth, defending, said his client is from a very respectable family who is shocked by what had happened. The accused man’s sister gave evidence that, up until this incident, her family never knew he was homosexual. In a later interview with gardaí, the man admitted that when the boy answered the door to him, he thought he was aged “16 or 17”. The boy’s mother came home unexpectedly and witnessed the sexual encounter.
The garda said that when the boy was interviewed by specialist interviewers, he claimed that the man forced him to give him oral sex. Garda Malcolm Hooks told the court that while the boy’s Gaydar profile said he was aged 19, another part of his profile read: “I’m not a porn star, I’m a 13-year-old.” The offence occurred on April 13th, 2015. The man has appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court where he pleaded guilty to the defilement of a child under the age of 15 years. The man, who was aged 30 at the time, arranged to travel to the boy’s home. The boy downloaded the Gaydar app and put up a profile of himself claiming to be 19.Ī man contacted the child a short time later and was told the boy’s mother would be out for two hours.