SPEQ:TRUM podcast

Do you wish you knew more about sex before you had your first sexual experience? How often should you get tested if you’re sexually active? Should Singapore schools expand their sex education curriculum to make it more inclusive and comprehensive? In honour of World AIDS Day on 1 December, we spoke to two individuals to address the above more in the hopes of educating and empowering youth on safe sex: Adrian Tyler, programme coordinator for Pink Carpet Youth at Action for AIDS Singapore, which plans outreach programmes for the GBQ youth community. Adrian is also the fourth Singaporean to ever come out publicly as a person living with HIV; Dillon Galistan, a 25-year-old gay man who will be sharing some of his personal experiences as well as offer insights on safe sex from the perspective of a young, Singaporean adult. Host: Jamie Nonis

Why can't boys be soft, gentle, funny and kind? Why does the masculine identity always have to be associated with strength, power and aggression? In this episode, we discuss gender roles and stereotypes with award-winning multimedia artist Brian Gothong Tan, director of the upcoming hybrid play + exhibition, The Swimming Pool Library, by T:>Works, inspired by Alan Hollinghurst’s bestselling seminal novel of the same name. The play + exhibitions explores these themes and we also chat with Brian about toxic masculinity and its antidote, ‘alternate masculinity’, as well as the portrayal of masculinity in mainstream media. During this interview, Brian also opens up on his own coming of age journey, which will be further showcased in the transdisciplinary play + exhibition through a series of paper sketches, paintings, 3D printed sculptures and more. Tickets are available at theswimmingpoollibrary.peatix.com Host: Jamie Nonis Follow SPEQ:TRUM podcast on Instagram: @speqtrumpodcast

Would you risk getting arrested for a cause you believe in so deeply? Elijah Tay, Founder of MyQueerStorySG did, and in this episode, they share their personal experience on what prompted them to participate in a protest for trans rights outside the Ministry of Education in Singapore, which resulted in their arrest on 26 January. We invited Elijah onto the show so that you can hear directly from the 19-year-old -- rather than through third-person reporting in mainstream media -- on what actually happened and how everything went down leading up to their arrest and what happened after. In this interview, we also talk about how Elijah first discovered they were trans, dealing with gender dysphoria and their personal experiences as a trans individual in Singapore. Elijah is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. Follow the movement: #FixSchoolsNotStudents For more Singapore-based transgender resources, please visit: Transgender SG (https://transgendersg.com) The T Project (www.thetprojectsg.org) Host: Jamie Nonis Follow SPEQ:TRUM podcast on Instagram: @speqtrumpodcast

What does it really mean to be intersex? For Intersex Awareness Day today, we spoke with Aysha Bansal about their lived experiences as an intersex individual and how it impacts their relationships. Aysha is a 24-year-old neuroscientist who moved to Singapore from London two years ago to pursue their PhD and currently works at a local hospital. Aysha also identifies as non-binary and uses ‘they/them’ pronouns. cn: body mutilation, surgery, medical procedure Host: Jamie Nonis

We're excited to kick off our first episode of Season 2 on International Pronouns Day today, 21st October. We’ve got a bonus double episode with not one – but TWO – guests for you today who’ll be sharing more about the use of pronouns within the LGBTQ+ community and why it’s so important to us. Our first guest is Shan Menon, a social worker who volunteers his time with The T Project, a social service group aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable transgender people. He also helped set up the Alicia Community Centre peer counselling programme run by The T Project. We also have today Aysha Bansal, a 24-year-old PHD student who moved to Singapore from London two years ago. Aysha now works at a Singapore hospital, identifies as non-binary and uses “they/them” pronouns. Host: Jamie Nonis

Come out, come out, wherever you are! For National Coming Out Day, SPEQ:TRUM creator & host Jamie Nonis shares her own coming out stories and experiences from coming out at 15 in school, coming out to a relative at 25 and even coming out to a Catholic nun once, to her journey to finally being open and out in the workplace. In this episode, filmmaker Charmaine Wong interviews Jamie in a poetic twist of events, as Jamie was one of the interviewees in Charmaine’s documentary called ‘Pink IC’ more than 15 years ago. In her documentary, Charmaine explored whether the LGBTQ+ community has a place within the larger Singaporean identity and her film was featured in Short Circuit, Singapore’s very first LGBTQ+ film festival in 2006. Jamie speaks out openly about the hiring discrimination she faced early in her career, getting eyeballed top to toe in job interviews, and how she felt she had to conceal her gender identity in her first job. All of which she’s never shared publicly before. She also shares some of the social experiments she used to do in my early 20s, just for the fun of it, where she would dress as a girlier girl versus dressing more tomboy, and observe the difference in the way she was treated by strangers in society. Finally, Jamie also talks about the importance of seeing LGBTQ+ characters and representation in the media, and her hopes and dreams for the podcast.

Given the unique set of challenges the pandemic is presenting each one of us, self-care and self-compassion is what we all need most right now. So for World Mental Health Day on 10 October, we spoke with Shamini Nedumaran, a registered counsellor working with Oogachaga, Singapore’s most established community-based, non-profit organisation for the LGBTQ+ community. In this episode, we discuss the difference between mental wellness vs mental illness and the stigma surrounding this topic, especially in Asian societies, and what we can do to make it less taboo. Shamini also shares practical coping strategies and self-care toolkits that anyone – whether you’re LGBTQ+ or otherwise – facing mental health challenges right now can adopt and practice for your mental wellbeing. For more resources and counselling enquiries, visit www.oogachaga.com For urgent counselling assistance, you can reach out to Oogachaga’s WhatsApp counselling service at (+65) 8592 0609 Host: Jamie Nonis

In celebration of Bisexual Visibility Day on 23 September, we had a chat with an andro/masc presenting bisexual for this episode. Lixia is a 22-year-old Singaporean female who’s attracted to both men and women, has dated men, and is currently in a relationship with a ‘gold star lesbian’. We hope you enjoy this unfiltered conversation with Lixia where we tackled gender-conforming social constructs, myths and stereotypes people often have about bisexuals, and her own experiences and discrimination she has faced from both camps – the ‘gays’ and ‘straights’. We also touch on the struggle of reconciling her faith and belief in Christianity with being true to herself. And if you happen to be bi, HAPPY BI+ PRIDE to you! Know that you are seen, you matter, and you are worthy of love too :)  Host: Jamie Nonis Audio Editor: Natasha Pestana 

Content warning: Suicide In this episode, we discuss the topic of suicide and suicide prevention to mark World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September. As suicide disproportionately impacts the LGBTQ community and LGBTQ youth in particular, we wish to create awareness around this otherwise taboo topic in the hope we may help remove the stigma often associated with suicide and mental health issues that often prevent people from getting the help they really need. We invited Leow Yangfa, Executive Director of Oogachaga, Singapore’s first and most established community-based counselling and support agency for the LGBTQ+ community, to share his valuable perspectives from having done this social justice work for almost two decades in a professional and volunteer capacity. Yangfa is also an ambassador for this year's #HOWRU campaign with the Samaritans of Singapore and in this episode, he also debunks some of misconceptions about suicide, gives us insight into the some of the warning signs we should look out for, and how we can better support our loved ones who may be at risk. This was a delicate but important conversation so please share this episode with those you love and care about – it could literally save a life. Host: Jamie Nonis Audio Editor: Natasha Pestana 

Hey everyone, Welcome to Episode 6 of SPEQ:TRUM podcast: “Overcoming Internalised Homophobia & Learning to Love Yourself”. A few weeks ago, I interviewed popular content creator and business owner Aarika Lee on the topic of ‘Diversity, Rainbow-washing & Making a Stand’ for a previous episode. At the end of our interview, she felt inspired to ask me a couple of questions about how I coped with being gay growing up, and how I’ve since reconciled with all my struggles. So we did a reverse interview for this episode and for context, I wanna let you guys know that Aarika and I are cousins who grew up together. We spent a lot of time together in our childhood and always had a ton of fun. I’ve never felt like I had to hide my gender identity from her but it wasn’t something that we spoke openly about. And the following conversation is actually the first time we’ve addressed this topic, which, to be honest, no one has really ever asked me about in my life. I really appreciated the fact that Aarika is such an empathetic human being, and created a safe space that allowed me to open up and be so vulnerable with her and now, with you guys too. I hope you find value in this episode where I also talked about the deep, internal identity work I have done on myself over the years to replace the disempowering thoughts and beliefs that were drilled into me since young and very damaging to my sense of self-worth and self-esteem, with more empowering beliefs and a more positive self-image instead. It has been a really long journey for me getting here, and for those of you still on that journey, I hope you find this episode helpful and empowering. Host: Jamie Nonis Audio Editor: Natasha Pestana 

“Our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance,” said best-selling author, TED Talk speaker and academic Brene Brown. In Episode 05, SPEQ:TRUM host Jamie Nonis interviews filmmaker Charmaine Wong, whose documentary “Pink IC” was screened at the inaugural Short Circuit, Singapore’s first LGBTQ+ film festival, in 2006, which Jamie was also featured in. Charmaine has been in media production for the past 15 years, working on video projects and campaigns for clients largely in the government and education sectors in Singapore. In this interview, she shares how she started realising she was lesbian in pre-school, the “sapphic” vibes attending an all-girls convent school, and her fears around coming out to her conservative Chinese parents. Now 39, Charmaine also discusses the notion of acceptance and belonging vis-à-vis the Singaporean identity, and her hopes for a more inclusive Singapore. Host: Jamie Nonis Audio Editor: Natasha Pestana

“It is 2020: The world is speaking, and you have to listen. There is a conversation the world is engaging in and if you want to even be part of this economy, you have to engage your consumers in this conversation.” Episode 04 of SPEQ:TRUM podcast is a powerful one with popular content creator, business owner & mom of 2 Aarika Lee where we had a really open and honest conversation about why she continues to vocalise her support for Pink Dot, Singapore's version of Pride, every year, despite losing followers whenever she posts pro-LGBTQ+ content, as well as what brands should be doing to engage the LGBTQ+ community, and how brands can avoid being accused of ‘rainbow-washing’ — and what Nike did right this past Pride. Aarika is also a co-founder of Life Beyond Grades, and we discussed why it’s so important to her that her children grow up in a world where diversity is celebrated — and why she’s doing her part to help create that world. She also shares how she’d handle it if either of her two young kids, now 5 and 7, grew up and came home one day and told her they were dating someone of the same gender. Hope you enjoy this episode and Aarika’s heart-warming sharing and inspiring insights. Host: Jamie Nonis Audio Editor: Natasha Pestana

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe said: “You don’t have to be gay to be a supporter – you just have to be human.” In this episode of SPEQ:TRUM podcast, I speak with Kelly Leow, a fervent and passionate straight ally of the LGBTQ+ community. So I first met Kelly back in 2018, when we had the following conversation. At the time, she was heavily involved as a volunteer with the T Project, Singapore’s first social service and homeless shelter for the transgender community. Kelly had just overseen a fundraising campaign to pay for the T Project shelter's building lease. The T Project was also preparing to open a community space called the Alicia Community Centre, and it has since opened in Kovan in Singapore. These days, Kelly is no longer as involved at the T Project. Instead, she now works at AWARE Singapore, the gender equality organisation, as a communications manager. But her support for trans communities in Singapore is still strong. Listen in on why she feels so strongly about this, and why having straight allies such as Kelly is sometimes even more powerful for the community and it causes. Host: Jamie Nonis Audio Editor: Natasha Pestana 

Hey guys! In this episode, I open up about how I first discovered I was gay and what it was like growing up in a conservative Asian society, and feeling like I was different and didn’t belong as a young person finding my place in this world. I talk about my fears of being ostracised by friends and society, and feeling like I had to hide my true identity. I also touch on my struggles with self-acceptance, as well as coming out to family and navigating family dynamics. I have to admit, it really wasn’t easy feeling like such a “wrongness” in society for so much of my life, and I’m really grateful that I’ve come out on the other side and I’m able to be here today to share this with you. This episode is kinda interesting 'cos I’m the one in the hot seat for a change, being interviewed instead, by my cousin Stacey Nonis. Hope you enjoy the show :)  Host: Jamie Nonis  Audio Editor: Natasha Pestana 

Welcome to the launch episode of SPEQ:TRUM podcast! This new podcast by veteran journalist Jamie Nonis was created as a safe platform for LGBTQIA+ voices, stories, dialogue and balanced narratives.  Episode 1 features an interview with June Chua, founder of The T Project, Singapore’s first and only social service for the transgender community. We talk about her advocacy work for the trans community, and how The T Project provides a temporary safe haven for homeless transgender individuals, and helps residents gain trans-affirmative employment as well as financial, healthcare and other assistance. It also runs the Alicia Community Centre as a safe space for transgender and gender-non-binary individuals of all ages. The centre offers certified peer counselling services for the marginalised and features a library of trans-themed literature and  a museum documenting the history of the trans community in Singapore. A well-recognised LGBTQ+ activist in Singapore, June has spoken at numerous panels and conferences, and collaborated with social organisations and educational institutions. For her community work and outreach efforts, June was awarded the ‘AWARE Champion for Gender Equality & Justice Award’. In this episode, we also discussed the misconceptions people often have about the trans community, and her hopes and dreams for the future of this marginalised community.