By Dear Straight People,
It has become an annual tradition for us to revisit our most popular posts of the year once the new year beckons and 2020 is no exception.
From inspiring love stories to controversial conversations, here are 10 posts we produced in 2020 that made a lot of noise.
10. A Conversation With Truelove.is Pastor Ian Toh & Ex-Gay Member Jason Lim: Religion, Joanna Theng & The LGBT Community
Coming in at number 10 is probably the most controversial article we wrote this year. With over 1,000 shares, the buzz generated by this article led to a guest spot on one of Singapore’s most popular podcasts.
Some members of the LGBT+ community were upset with this piece, equating conversation with promotion when this article is as its title suggests, merely a conversation.
It would have been very easy and lazy for Dear Straight People to continue on the well-trodden path of wholesome politically correct coming out stories but we believe there is a need to move past ‘safe’ LGBT+ content and tackle the trickier aspects of the community.
9. 6 Lesbian Couples From Singapore Share How They First Met
In the lead up to Valentine’s Day, we published a compilation piece featuring 6 lesbian couples from Singapore that we’ve interviewed in the past. The resulting article ended up becoming our 9th most popular post of the year.
8. Out Of The Closet: Justin Foo Shares His Story
With over 1,500 shares, our coming out feature on Justin Foo is our 8th most popular story of 2020.
In this candid piece, Justin Foo shares with us his experience of being a signed artiste where he was pressured back into the closet in a bid to make it in Singapore showbiz.
7. Bsamfruit Durian Delivery – Gym Owners In Thailand Have Turned To Selling Durians
Our 7th most popular post is actually this news piece on a group of resourceful gym owners turned durian sellers in Thailand.
It’s heartening to know that judging from their Facebook page, their business is still doing well!
6. Why Negative Media Portrayals Are Not Ok
Our post on why it’s not okay for Singapore mainstream media to promote negative gay stereotypes struck a chord with many, resulting in thousands of likes and shares on Instagram alone.
Both Chase Tan (the actor who plays the gay paedophile) and Singapore’s national broadcaster eventually issued an apology so here’s hoping that Singapore’s media industry will now think twice before pushing harmful LGBTQ+ portrayals again.
5. Out Of The Closet – Jason Yin & Thorin Duffin Share Their Story
In at #5 is this gay love story that deserves its own Netflix movie!
Meet Jason Yin & Thorin Duffin, a gay couple who have been together since high school. They are each other’s first love, first kiss, first everything!
4. Coronavirus Outbreak Reveals Just How Deep Body Image Issues Are In The Gay Community
This perspective piece on the deep body image issues prevalent within the gay community resonated with thousands of gay men all over the world, making it one of our most read articles of the year!
3. 13 New GoGo Boys Making Their Debut At gCircuit Songkran 2020
What’s better click-bait than one topless hunk? 13 of them!
From Taiwanese hunks to Korean oppas, these 13 boys were poised to make their gCircuit Songkran debut in 2020. The fact that this article had almost 3,000 shares shows just how much people were looking forward to seeing them strut their stuff on stage.
Unfortunately, gCircuit Songkran 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic so we never got to see these boys slay the gCircuit Songkran stage.
2. Out Of The Closet: Joyce & Qiuling Share Their Story
Our most popular coming out feature of 2020 is none other than our feature on Joyce and Qiuling, who got married in Singapore with the full support of their family and friends!
Their feature article generated over 1,000 shares while the accompanying video feature currently has over 50,000 views across Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
1. Singaporean Karen Gets Offended Over Gay Hotel Staycation Ad
When a Singaporean ‘Karen’ had a very ‘Karen’ like response to a beautiful staycation ad featuring real life gay couple Andee and Hugo, we responded in kind.
Our post reached over 100,000 people on Facebook alone and sparked a national conversation.
Bonus Mention: Attending The ‘Gay Wedding Of The Year’
This video was produced in 2019, but it suddenly went viral again this year, racking up over 300,000 views on YouTube and Instagram in 2020 alone!
THANK YOU FOR THE LOVE IN 2020
As this dreaded year finally comes to an end, Dear Straight People would like to sincerely thank you for all of the love and support you’ve given us this past year!
We’ve got some exciting plans coming up for 2021 that we cannot wait to share with you so follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for the latest updates!
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