The classic film Paris Is Burning has been removed from a Singaporean film festival at the last minute in an attempt to avoid controversy.
In a move widely criticised by LGBT activists in Singapore, Paris Is Burning was removed from the programme of the 2018 M1 Singapore Fringe Festival.
The festival had initially worked with LGBT film group The Glory Hoes to show the iconic documentary in the festival in January.
However, shortly before the release of the official programme, Paris Is Burning was removed from the line-up.
In a statement to their Facebook page, The Glory Hoes wrote: “[The organisers] were afraid that the inclusion of this event in the programme could be spun to look like ‘the Fringe is celebrating the LGBT lifestyle.’
“M1 has expressed that their continued funding of the Fringe is predicated on 2018 being a year free of controversy.”
They continued: “The Glory Hoes consider this position to be queer erasing, homophobic and queer bashing.”
The group also added that the documentary has already been approved by the Singaporean regulatory body which classifies films that are shown in the country.
Singapore is a highly conservative country, same-sex marriages are not recognised and sex between men is illegal, although this is rarely enforced.
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