Singapore Public Gay Parties - Before 2001

Before 2001

Prior to 2001, all parties held for LGBT people were private affairs not advertised or even made known to the general public. Most were held indoors, especially on Sunday nights at various mainstream discos which were eager to tap the pink dollar on a day when business from their straight patrons was slow. This phenomenon began in the early 1980s when the police started to turn a blind eye to men disco-dancing with each other, but not during the slow numbers, when they were cautioned by the managements of these venues to "behave". This was done to avoid complaints from heterosexual patrons who were initially invariably present.

By and by, from the mid-1980s onwards, the increasing numbers of gay men flocking to these discos on Sunday nights drove the straight clientele away and the managements were subsequently more inclined to tolerate homosexuals engaging in slow dancing and in tight embrace, as well.

Realising the untapped potential and pent-up demand for gay parties, more and more mainstream discos advertised Sundays as "men's night" to draw the gay crowd. Venues such as Marmota, Niche, Legend and Studebaker's made a healthy profit from their calculated gamble. However, there was still an unmet need on all the other nights of the week.

This chasm was filled by pioneering entrepreneurs, especially Max Lim, who organised weekday private gay parties at roving locations such as discos at Far East Plaza along Orchard Road and nightspots like Dancers - the Club and Forbidden city at Clarke Quay. Soon, other gay businessmen set up discos like Taboo and Why Not in Tanjong Pagar, which were exclusively gay on every night of the week.

Breaking out of the claustrophobic confines of indoor venues, Max Lim organised Singapore's first open-air private gay parties advertised via leaflets and word-of-mouth at spacious venues such as the East Coast Lagoon and Big Splash. These were a roaring success as they were such a novelty by virtue of the incredible amount of space in which paying partygoers could roam, with food, drink, dancing and individual events on offer. Ground-breaking as these were, they still remained private affairs, out of the radar of the mainstream community and media. As such, the full potential of advertising could not be harnessed, which limited the patronage at these events.