Singapore’s homophobic culture forces Element, a new mag for gay Asia, to publish as digital only
“Not many gay men [in Singapore] would pick up a copy of a magazine like this on a newsstand — that’s just the culture here.”
— Hirokazu Mizuhara, managing director of Element magazine, an online-only magazine targeted to gay men Singapore and the rest of Asia. The bi-monthly, launching sometime in April, bills itself as “the voice of gay Asia,” and will be available in both Apple and Android app stores, with issues costing $1.99 apiece. Published by Epic Media, the magazine is attempting to work around specific government rules in Singapore, which requires a license from the government’s Media Development Authority, who routinely regulates and censors content. Says Mizuhara, “They tend to be particularly conservative when it comes to this sort of content.”
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
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