The Online Citizen A Community of Singaporeans Launched a year ago, ELEMENT magazine, the organizer behind Asia Pink Awards, decides to celebrate its one-year anniversary by celebrating Asia’s LGBT rights heroes.
Asia Pink Awards 2014, the first regional LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Intersex) Awards event, is gaining momentum against the backdrop of the emergence of a progressive Asia.
The event seeks to recognise entities – individuals and businesses, regardless of their sexual orientation – that have played a key role in pushing for an inclusive workplace culture, and as well as promoting social diversity and acceptance in the Asian society at large.
Many corporate allies are supporting the event to celebrate “an inclusive Asia” via the Awards platform. Companies such as Barclays, Goldman Sacs, Fred Perry, VISA, Unilever and BP Oil are confirming their attendance to grace the event. Local entrepreneurs such as Eugene He, CEO/Founder of Tek Eight Laboratories, Edison Ong, founder of multiple liquor distributor Letat Agencies, and David Tan, CEO of Hannah Holdings have also sponsored the event.
The Awards Ceremony is also a fund-raising event for Action For AIDS (AFA) Singapore. Proceeds will be used to support HIV/AIDS patients who can’t afford medication bills, whether they are straight or gay.
The Awards will take place in a private gallery, named Dream Factory. Ines Ligron, a French fashion and beauty expert, who sponsored the venue for the event said,
I’m excited to have the event here. The Awards shows that anyone can stand up and fight for what’s right because these recipients come from all walks of life; politician, lawyer, social worker, activist, pastor, celebrity.
On the 16th of March, the Awards will announce 10 recipients from the individuals’ category and three recipients form the corporates’ category chosen by a distinguished panel of experienced journalist.
Apart from event highlights such as Sebastian Castro being Master of Ceremony and performances by Paolo Ferrarini, there will be six well-established LGBTQI organizations from around the region that will be speaking at the pre-Awards seminar. This includes participation from Shanghai PRIDE (China), and TAPCPR (Taiwan) amongst others.
Hiro Mizuhara, Associate Publisher/Creative Director of ELEMENT said,
This is a great opportunity to network and witness a milestone in the Asian LGBTQI community. The Awards is primarily a platform to pull focus and for the LGBTQI Asian community to remain salient in the public sphere.
The event will also be live-broadcasted on Moovz.com, a global LGBT social-networking platform.