The exhibition ‘Out in Taiwan’ could not come at a more important time for LGBTQ rights in Asia.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/31
By: Jay Lin

I first heard of “Out in Asia” and its creator, the world-famous fashion photographer Leslie Kee, in 2016, while I was a speaker at the Nara International Film Festival (NIFF) in Japan.

The festival’s founder, film director Naomi Kawase, collaborated with “Out in Japan” to arrange the display of hundreds of black and white portrait photographs throughout the NIFF venues in Nara.

At first glance, these walls of photographs, lined up neatly in rows and columns, resembled ID pictures. Up close, however, the secret behind Leslie Kee’s simplicity was revealed: every still captured each individual’s unique aura, all filled with undeniable confidence, happiness, and pride. The “Out in Asia” series is a project to depict LGBTQ people from all walks of life who are out of the closet with the goal of reaching 10,000 unique portraits by 2022.

At the time, I did not understand the significance of an exhibition featuring out people, until I realized how difficult it is to actually be fully out. I only came out to my parents just before I turned 40, even though I have been coming out of the closet to various people (friends, classmates, colleagues, siblings, etc.) since college.    [FULL  STORY]