Pride month: do you know these LGBTQ+ celebrities in Asia?

Due to the region's conservative culture, it used to be difficult for Asian celebrities to come out as LGBTQ+ members. However, this has shifted in recent years. Not only are more celebrities open to coming out, but some have even made waves in Asia and paved the way for LGBTQ+ acceptance. Let's celebrate these celebrities (to name a few), in honour of Pride Month!

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Shinjiro Atae is a Japanese J-pop star best known for being part of the pop group AAA. Billboard reports that the star officially came out as a gay man in July in a live fan meet.

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Kumarason Chinnadurai, professionally known as Kumar, is a Singaporean comedian and entertainer best known for his drag performance. Kumar is also one of the few openly gay celebrities in Singapore, according to AsiaOne.

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Treechada Petcharat, better known as Poyd or Nong Poy, is a transgender actress, model, and trans rights activist in Thailand. She has once been coined Thailand’s ‘Most Beautiful Transgender Woman’, according to the South China Morning Post!

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Leslie Cheung is undoubtedly Hong Kong’s biggest LGBTQ+ icon, despite having passed twenty years ago. Throughout his career, he was praised for infusing his pride in his sexuality as a bise xual queer man into his music and acting roles.

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Kevin Tsai, co-host of the Taiwanese variety show 'Kangsi Coming,' is a Taiwanese TV host and writer who is one of the few openly gay Taiwanese celebrities who has navigated the scene at a time when the media and public were life-threatening spaces for queer men, according to iFeng.

Hong Seok-cheon is best known in South Korea as the country's first openly gay celebrity. He is also a talk show host, actor, restaurateur, and former politician. He was once on the Korean entertainment industry's blacklist but has since emerged as one of the most successful gay men in South Korea, according to Koreaboo.

Susanna Kwan is a Hong Kong actress who is best known for her work in the largely acclaimed TVB drama ‘Heart of Greed’. Despite having been married to composer Michael Lai for two years, the pair divorced, and she has since come out as a lesbian, reports Yahoo.

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Holland is South Korea's first openly gay K-pop idol, also known as Go Tae-seob. According to Campus Pride, Holland was unable to sign with an agency or receive funding for his music due to his open homosexuality, but he has defied the odds by becoming a successful K-pop star in his own right thanks to public support for his music and queer identity.

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Enno Cheng is a singer-songwriter, author, and actress from Taiwan. According to the South China Morning Post, Enno Cheng shocked Taiwanese media in 2016 when she abruptly announced her divorce from her then-husband, rocker Sam Yang, and came out as a lesbian on Facebook.

Mark Bautista is a Filipino actor, singer, and model best known as a finalist on the Filipino talent show "Star for a Night." According to GMA Network, coming out as a bise xual man in 2018 affected his chances of getting roles in the Filipino acting industry, but he has not let this stop him from living his truth.

Image: Mark Bautista / Facebook

Denise Ho is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress best known for her hit songs 'Angel Blues' and 'Goodbye... Rosemary', as well as being Cantopop legend Anita Mui's apprentice. According to The Huffington Post, Denise Ho is Hong Kong's first mainstream female singer who is open about her lesbian identity.

Jin Xing, a ballet dancer and talk show host, is China's most famous transgender celebrity. According to The Straits Times, she was the first Chinese celebrity to openly undergo gender reassignment surgery back in 1995, which propelled her to fame in the country.

Michelle Dee is 2023’s Miss Universe Philippines, and she is open about her bisexual identity, according to the South China Morning Post. The news surprised many, as the pageant queen only broke the news of her orientation after her big win – way to make an impact!

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Jake Zyrus, formerly Charice Pempengco, was a transgender singer who was famous in and beyond the Philippines for his powerful vocals, performing with Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, and others. AsiaOne reports that though the singer is alleged to have lost their powerful range after transitioning, they have rebranded themselves into an "increasingly confident tenor".

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Nur Sajat is a transgender Malaysian celebrity best known for her work as an activist and talk show host in Malaysia. According to the BBC, Nur Sajat's celebrity status did not prevent Malaysian religious authorities from prosecuting her in 2021. She is now living in Australia after being granted asylum, and she continues to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.

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KilliAN, also known as Lin Jia Le, was once a K-pop idol trainee who was training under one of South Korea's top K-pop agencies, JYP Entertainment. However, he was kicked out of the agency after being discovered in a relationship with another male trainee, reports Koreaboo. However, he has managed to carve out his own path in Hong Kong as a celebrity in his own right!

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Jiae, a former member of the K-pop girl group Wassap, came out as bisexual in 2021 to a lukewarm response from her fans, according to Allkpop. Since then, she has been open about advocating for bisexual awareness during her media appearances, especially about the stigmas bisexual women face.

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