ASEAN Queer Imaginings

Three things stood out to me reading this essay collection:

1. Clothing.

Ninar Thanita Wongprasert wrote about Undressing Discrimination and this made something click in me. I have been watching Schitt's Creek this pandemic season (as one does) and Patrick's Dad said it best about David Rose.



I haven't been finding a lot of in-depth commentary about David Rose's less-than-uniformly-masculine wardrobe (he wore a skirt at his own wedding and Dan Levy wore one to the Emmys). But here Wongprasert wrote:

Clothing is political in the sense that it has been used by the state to control society and people. It signifies society, history, politics, and culture.

Fashion is an aesthetic politics. Its nature is boundless and may appear to be apolitical on the outside, but is actually very political within. It is well embedded with agenda. Fashion is an effective platform to send across political, social, and cultural messages by anyone and at any time.

As Islamophobia from Thai mainstream communities became more visible, so did in Thai queer communities and activism. An external factor that has triggered Islamophobia within our queer communities and activism is the rapid rise of queerphobic climates from neighboring Muslim dominant nations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei just within the past few years. Meanwhile, a recent internal factor that has sparked anti-Muslim sentiments is the opposition of some Thai Muslims to the upcoming civil union bill. As a result, queer and queer-friendly Muslims have faced unjustified backlashes and Islamophobia from non-Muslim queer activists and the community members.

“History is still being made. Let us not forget.
And let us live, so that we may not be forgotten.”