Samsung pulls Singapore drag queen ad after backlash
- The ad campaign called Listen to Your Heart, for wearable tech, showcased the warm relationship between a mother and her cross-dressing son
- LGBTQ rights remain a sensitive topic in the prosperous city state, where a rarely invoked colonial-era law banning sex between men is upheld
South Korean tech giant Samsung has pulled an online advert in Singapore that featured a hijab-wearing Muslim woman hugging her drag queen son after it sparked a backlash from socially conservative corners.
LGBTQ rights remain a sensitive topic in the prosperous city state, where a rarely invoked colonial-era law banning sex between men was upheld by the country’s High Court only two years ago.
The ad, part of a campaign called Listen to Your Heart for wearable tech like noise-cancelling ear buds and smart watches, showcased the warm relationship between the mother and cross-dressing son.
But it sparked a wave of online criticism, with one group labelling it “an unfortunate attempt to push the LGBT ideology into a largely conservative Muslim community”.
“We are against the ideology of mainstreaming homosexuality and transgenderism into a conservative society,” said the group that opposes Singapore’s gay rights movement.
Other criticism took a similar tack, with one social media user bemoaning the negative impact the ad’s message of “unlimited openness” could have on future generations of the religious community.