On Monday afternoon, amid the heat and chaos of Thailand’s Songkran festival, Gavin Chow was crowned Mr Bear International 2026 – the first Malaysian to win the title at a pageant that has quickly become part of Thailand’s growing queer festival circuit.
Back in Chow’s home country, the climate is very different.
Malaysia criminalises same-sex intimacy under federal law, LGBTQ gatherings have faced police raids and the 34-year-old activist’s own national qualifier earlier this year struggled to…
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