Type of site | Entertainment |
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Available in |
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Headquarters | |
Area served | Worldwide |
Founder(s) | Jay Lin |
Products | |
Services | |
URL | www |
Registration | Required |
Launched | November 11, 2016 [1] |
GagaOOLala is a Taiwan-based worldwide subscription video on demand service, specializing in uncensored LGBT-related films, LGBT made-for television films and contemporary LGBT television drama series. It has partnered with Japanese-based Line TV, initially in Thailand, and then across Asia, to provide the service with GagaOOLala-made TV series. [2] GagaOOLala is owned by Portico Media, whose also carried pay TV channels for Taiwan cable TV provider along with Chunghwa Telecom's MOD platform.
The service launched in March 2017, initially only on Taiwan, [3] before rolling out to the 10 ASEAN nations in South East Asia in 2017, Hong Kong and Macau in 2018 and the rest of Asia in 2019. The service became available globally, except in mainland China and North Korea, in May 2020. [4]
It is the first LGBT-focused OTT platform in Asia. [5] Its catalog includes feature films, shorts, documentaries, series and its own original content. [6]
Portico Media is one of the co-founders of the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival and was in charge of the organization of the festival during its first three editions (2014, 2015, 2016). However, Jay Lin still found the film festival experience limiting regarding the availability of LGBT content for Asian audiences and decided to establish Asia's first LGBT-streaming platform, GagaOOLala. [3] GagaOOLala was first launched in Taiwan on November 11, 2016. [1] Its first expansion into the Asian market took place with the launch in the 10 countries that conform ASEAN in Southeast Asia on April 28, 2017. [7] On May 13, 2018, GagaOOLala was launched in Hong Kong and Macau. [8] On June 14, 2019, the streaming service started operations in all of South Asia. The company made the announcement together with a distribution tie-in with KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival. [9] On May 15, 2020, GagaOOLala became available globally. [4]
On October 28, 2016, GagaOOLala celebrated the first ever Queermosa Gala, an award ceremony "to bring broad media visibility to the people and companies working hard to have LGBT voices heard in Taiwan." The ceremony was supported by GLAAD. [10] Among the first year winner's were television host Dee Hsu, singer A-Mei and rights activist Chi Chia-wei. [11]
During the Taipei Pride celebrations of 2018, GagaOOLala, GagaTai and LalaTai organized together with the Singaporean fashion photographer Leslie Kee the photography exhibition Out in Taiwan. The project was composed of black-and-white portraits of LGBTQ people living in Taiwan in order to humanize the LGBT community. [12]
GagaOOLala is also one of the five founding members of the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan, one of the main LGBT rights group in Taiwan. [13] The organization was one of the main driving forces behind the passing of the same-sex marriage law in Taiwan on May 17, 2019, making it the first country in Asia. [14]
In a 2019 interview, Jay Lin, CEO of GagaOOLala, revealed the story behind the name: "Lala' and 'gaga' are slang terms for lesbian and gay in Chinese. The 'oo' comes from the French 'ou' which means 'or'". [15]
The platform currently hosts more than 1,000 LGBT titles including feature films, shorts, documentaries, and series from all over the world, but with a focus on Asian queer cinema. [16] It is the home for the filmography of international queer directors such as Zero Chou, Simon Chung, Kit Hung, Stanley Kwan, Scud, Cui Zi'en, Loo Zihan, Yonfan, Marco Berger, Antony Hickling [17] or Joselito Altarejos, and the distributor in Asia of international hit titles like Blue is the Warmest Color, Moonlight, Front Cover or Weekend.
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GagaOOLala has produced original content since its launch date. In 2016, they produced Ting-Chun Huang short film Sodom's Cat, one of the first R-rated queer stories from the island's filmography. [18] The film was selected at that year's Outfest, Frameline and nominated to the Iris Prize. [19]
The next year, 2017, GagaOOLala produced its first feature film, Tale of the Lost Boys, by Filipino director Joselito Altarejos. The film, a Taiwanese-Filipino cross-cultural story that tackles issues of sexuality and self-identity, was awarded Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Office Award at Sinag Maynila Film Festival. [20] That same year, the platform also commissioned its first original series Queer Taiwan, an episodic documentary about the circumstances that have made of Taiwan a beacon for LGBT rights in Asia and, eventually, the first country in the continent to legalize same-sex marriage. [21] The first season focused on four main topics in Taiwan: religion and the marriage equality movement, the drag culture, sex and disability, and surrogacy. [22]
In 2018, Queer Taiwan was renewed for a second season and re-branded as Queer Asia. The move to four new different territories (Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan and Vietnam), "to highlight the steep cultural differences in Asia within the LGBT community". [23]
In 2024, GagaOOLala unveiled their first co-production with Japanese broadcaster TV Tokyo on yaoi manga adaptation "At 25:00, in Akasaka;" the series will be premiere simultaneously with the Japanese broadcast. [24]
In March 2019, GagaOOLala launched GOL STUDIOS, a crowd-sourcing platform to assist in the production and distribution of LGBT content around the world. GOL STUDIOS is open to all filmmakers, where they can upload any projects they are working on, request resources, and connect with other film professionals. The platform will bring more original content into GagaOOLala. In its first year, GOL STUDIOS commissioned 11 projects that will be released in 2020. Among the selected projects are Hong Kong independent film director Kit Hung's latest project Forever 17, a Zero Chou's new film and series, and the surrogacy-themed documentary Made in Boise, that will premiere in the second half of 2019 at Independent Lens on PBS. [25] [26]
Homosexuality has been documented in China since ancient times. According to one study by Bret Hinsch, for some time after the fall of the Han dynasty, homosexuality was widely accepted in China but this has been disputed. Several early Chinese emperors are speculated to have had homosexual relationships accompanied by heterosexual ones. Opposition to homosexuality, according to the study by Hinsch, did not become firmly established in China until the 19th and 20th centuries through the Westernization efforts of the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China. On the other hand, Gulik's study argued that the Mongol Yuan dynasty introduced a more ascetic attitude to sexuality in general.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Azerbaijan face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Azerbaijan since 1 September 2000. Nonetheless, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity are not banned in the country and same-sex marriage is not recognized.
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Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival, the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, and the Inside Out Film and Video Festival, in launching the North American Queer Festival Alliance, an initiative to further publicize and promote LGBT film.
A gay icon is a public figure who is regarded as a cultural icon by members of the LGBT community. Such figures usually have a devoted LGBT fanbase and act as allies to the LGBT community, often through their work, or they have been "openly appreciative of their gay fanbase". Many gay icons also have a camp aesthetic style, which is part of their appeal to LGBT individuals.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the People's Republic of China (PRC) face legal and social challenges that are not experienced by non-LGBT residents. While both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal, same-sex couples are currently unable to marry or adopt, and households headed by such couples are ineligible for the same legal protections available to heterosexual couples. No explicit anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people are present in its legal system, nor do hate crime laws cover sexual orientation or gender identity.
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Republic of China (Taiwan) are regarded as some of the most comprehensive of those in Asia. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal, and same-sex marriage was legalized on 24 May 2019, following a Constitutional Court ruling in May 2017. Same-sex couples are able to jointly adopt children since 2023. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender characteristics in education has been banned nationwide since 2004. With regard to employment, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has also been prohibited by law since 2007.
Laws governing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are complex in Asia, and acceptance of LGBT persons is generally low. Same-sex sexual activity is outlawed in at least twenty Asian countries. In Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, homosexual activity results in death penalty. In addition, LGBT people also face extrajudicial executions from non-state actors such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. While egalitarian relationships have become more frequent in recent years, they remain rare.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+(LGBTQ+)music is music that focuses on the experiences of gender and sexual minorities as a product of the broad gay liberation movement.
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