Sean Foo

Last updated

Sean Foo
Born (1991-04-24) 24 April 1991 (age 32)
Singapore
Education Catholic Junior College
Alma mater Monash University
Occupations
  • Entrepreneur
  • Filmmaker

Sean Foo (born 24 April 1991) is a Singaporean entrepreneur, filmmaker and advocate known for his contributions to the LGBT community through his work with Dear Straight People.

Contents

He is also recognized as the creator of Singapore's first gay boys' love web drama series, Getaway.

Early life and education

An alumnus of Catholic Junior College, Foo graduated from Monash University in Melbourne, where he earned a double degree in Arts and Accounting. [1]

Foo realised he was gay during his teenage years. However, societal prejudice against homosexuality compelled him to remain in the closet throughout his adolescence and early adulthood. [2]

Career

During his final year of university, Foo founded LGBT media platform Dear Straight People, which first made a name for itself through its coming out stories. [3]

Following his graduation, Foo began his career as an auditor, working in one of the Big Four accounting firms. [1] He later transitioned to the media industry when he joined The Smart Local, a media company in Singapore. [1]

After running Dear Straight People anonymously for a period of two years, Foo publicly revealed himself as the founder of the platform in 2017 in a self-penned letter. [4] His coming out story received significant attention, where it was covered in media publications such as Metrosource. [5]

Following his public outing, Foo emerged as a prominent figure in the LGBTQ+ community, actively participating in various forms of media engagement and advocacy. [6] [7]

In 2023, Foo was featured in the documentary Regardless Of Sexuality by Channel News Asia. [8] Hosted by Janil Puthucheary, Regardless Of Sexuality was Singapore's first LGBT documentary to air on national television in almost 20 years. [9]

Venture into film-making

Despite lacking prior experience in film-making, Foo set out to create Singapore's first gay boy's love web series. [10]

In 2022, Foo wrote, produced and starred in Getaway, which premiered on YouTube on 23 May 2022. [11] Comprising 5 episodes, Getaway featured an openly queer cast from Singapore and Thailand. [12]

Following the popular reception to Getaway, Foo made his directorial debut with the gay short film titled Home Par. The gay short film premiered on YouTube on 15 December 2022. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coming out</span> Process of revealing ones sexual orientation or other attributes

Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation or gender identity.

Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBT studies is the study of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoric, asexual, queer, questioning, and intersex people and cultures.

There are no statistics on how many LGBT people there are in Singapore or what percentage of the population they constitute. While homosexuality is legal in the country, the country is largely conservative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT history in Singapore</span>

There is a long history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activity in Singapore. Male homosexuality was outlawed under British rule, despite being acknowledged among the local population. Following Japanese occupation during World War II and the country gaining independence, homosexuality and transvestism were visible as a street scene, and from the 1970s were catered for in some nightclubs. In that decade also, Singapore became a centre of gender-reassignment surgery.

This article deals with writing that deals with LGBT themes in a Singapore context. It covers literary works of fiction, such as novels, short stories, plays and poems. It also includes non-fiction works, both scholarly and targeted at the general reader, such as dissertations, journal or magazine articles, books and even web-based content. Although Singapore lacks a dedicated gay book publisher or gay bookshop, it does have at least one dedicated gay library, Pelangi Pride Centre, which is open weekly to the public. Many of the works cited here may be found both in Pelangi Pride Centre, as well as the National Library or other academic libraries in Singapore, as well as in some commercial bookshops under 'gender studies' sections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Singapore</span>

The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Singapore have evolved over the decades. Same-sex sexual activity is legal for both males and females; for men it was officially legalised in 2022 after being de facto decriminalised since 2007, and for women it was always legal. Prior to 2022, same-sex sexual activity between males was de jure illegal under the British colonial-era Section 377A of the Penal Code. The law had been de facto unenforced for decades. In February 2022, the Court of Appeal in the Supreme Court reaffirmed that 377A cannot be used to prosecute men for having sex with other men, and that it is "unenforceable in its entirety". Transgender rights in the country are also progressive in the region, which included Singapore being the first country in Asia to legalise sex reassignment surgery in 1973.

LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. As of 2022, LGBT History Month is a month-long celebration that is specific to Australia, Canada, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Closeted and in the closet are metaphors for LGBTQIA+ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometimes combined with coming out, the act of revealing one's sexuality or gender to others, to create the phrase "coming out of the closet".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink Dot SG</span> Annual LGBTQ+ event in Singapore

Pink Dot SG, known endonymously as Pink Dot, is a pride event that has occurred annually since 2009 in support of the LGBT community in Singapore. Attendees of Pink Dot events gather to form a "pink dot" to show support for inclusiveness, diversity and the freedom to love in the country. Pink Dot events typically include concert performances and booths sponsored by organizations that support the LGBT community and cause in addition to the event's name-brand formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recognition of same-sex unions in Singapore</span>

Currently, there is no legal recognition of same-sex unions in Singapore.

Despite the history of colonisation and the resulting process of Westernisation since 1842, Hong Kong still embodies many aspects of Chinese traditional values towards sexuality. It is traditionally believed that heterosexuality is the nature, coherent, and privileged sexuality. Popular media marginalises and discriminates against LGBT members of Hong Kong in an attempt to maintain "traditional lifestyles".

Otto Fong Yong Chin is a Singaporean comic artist, playwright and teacher.

<i>Silent Walls</i> Singaporean TV series or program

Silent Walls is a 2023 Singaporean thriller television series telecast on Mediacorp Channel 8 and produced by Ochre Pictures. It stars Tasha Low, Ayden Sng, Mindee Ong, Tay Ying, Charlie Goh, Foo Fang Rong, Shane Pow, Ferlyn Wong, Macy Chen, Alfred Sng, Desmond Shen, Desmond Ng, Jojo Goh, Andie Chen, Bernard Tan and Chen Shucheng. The series centres around a mansion and the lives of its occupants in 1938, 1963, 1988 and 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dear Straight People</span> LGBT media website in Singapore

Dear Straight People is an LGBT media platform based in Singapore. Since its launch, Dear Straight People has gained prominence as one of Asia's leading LGBT publications.

Getaway is a Singaporean gay web series known for being the country's first Boys Love web series. The series was launched on YouTube on 23 May 2022.

Steven David Lim, also known as Steven Lim, is a Singaporean actor, photographer, and restaurateur best known for his role as David Tay in the long-running drama series Growing Up on MediaCorp TV Channel 5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrianna Tan</span> Director of product management for San Francisco

Adrianna Tan is a Singaporean product manager who has been the Director of Product Management for the San Francisco Digital Services since 2019. Adrianna was previously an entrepreneur and early employee at various technology companies.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "CONTENT MARKETING ROCKSTARS: SEAN FROM DEAR STRAIGHT PEOPLE". That Content Guy . 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Being queer and fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in socially conservative Singapore". Homeground Asia . 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  3. ↑ "Sean Foo, founder of Dear Straight People, on running one of Asia's most popular LGBTQ+ media platforms". Tatler . 17 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "Out Of The Closet: Sean Foo Shares His Story". Dear Straight People . 30 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "Sean Foo of the Singapore Web Phenomenon 'Dear Straight People' Asks: Am I Masculine Enough?". Metrosource . 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  6. ↑ "Rebel with a cause: Why having a 'cause' alone isn't enough anymore". Marketing Interactive . 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "Should LGBTQIA+ Topics Be Taught In School!?. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023– via YouTube.
  8. ↑ "Can Singapore Reconcile Sexuality, Family & Faith?. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023– via YouTube.
  9. ↑ "After 377A, what will it take for LGBT persons to reconcile their sexuality with their family, faith?". Channel News Asia . 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Creator of Singaporean gay drama Getaway wants to raise acceptance of LGBT community in the city state". South China Morning Post . 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  11. ↑ "Singapore's Dear Straight People drops gay drama set in Bangkok: Coconuts". Coconuts . 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  12. ↑ "S'pore now has its 1st boys' love drama, featuring local & Thai cast: Mothership". Mothership . 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  13. ↑ "HOME PAR by Dear Straight People". ProudOut . 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.