Singapore broadcaster MediaCorp slammed for gay character’s portrayal in Chinese drama series
- My Guardian Angels featured a gay basketball coach with a sexually transmitted disease who preyed on young boys
- Netizens flooded the Instagram accounts of MediaCorp and the actors, demanding an apology
Singapore’s national free-to-air broadcaster, MediaCorp, has come under fire after portraying a gay character in a manner that some have called “extremely harmful” to the LGBT community.
In April, MediaCorp’s Channel 8 screened a Mandarin-language TV drama called My Guardian Angels. The show included a gay character who was portrayed not only as a predatory paedophile, but a paedophile with a sexually transmitted disease – which he later spreads to a boy he assaults.
The news quickly went viral after gay Singaporean artist and activist Heckin’ Unicorn – real name Teo Yu Sheng, 29 – called MediaCorp out on Instagram. Teo highlighted various scenes in My Guardian Angels that he said were homophobic, including the seven-episode arc where the gay character in question, played by actor Chase Tan, preys on young boys.
Since then, internet users have taken to social media to express their anger, flooding not just MediaCorp with vitriol and calls for a boycott, but also the actors of My Guardian Angels.
“Address the issue properly. It’s not that difficult,” said one commenter on an unrelated post on MediaCorp’s Instagram page.