Global streaming platform GagaOOlala premieres Asia’s first gay parenting series this month, keeping Taiwan at the forefront of LGBTQ+ content and helping to shape the narrative around modern families.

Asia’s first gay parenting series, six-episode family comedy "Papa & Daddy", releases on global streaming platform GagaOOlala on 23 April, keeping Taiwan at the forefront of LGBTQ+ content in the region and taking the next step in the country’s already-significant shift to gender equality.

Inspired by the parenting journey of GagaOOlala founder and chief executive, Jay Lin, "Papa & Daddy" is the story of Damian, a 38-year-old overseas Taiwanese and recent divorcé, who returns to Taipei to open his dream restaurant, and falls for 28-year-old YouTube vlogger, Jerry, who hasn’t come out to his mother and father yet. Eventually, the pair become parents through surrogacy. 

"Papa & Daddy", supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, is written and directed by Nancy Chen, who was behind the screenplay for 2018’s "A Taiwanese Tale of Two Cities", and directed Big Three Dragons and HIStory4.  

Malaysian Chinese actor/singer Melvin Sia ("Romantic Delicacies", "Love Destiny", "V-Focus") plays Damian. Taiwanese actor Mike Lin ("Love & TT", "The Outsiders") stars as Jerry. Both play gay characters on screen for the first time in the series. 

During the launch press conference in Taipei, Sia said “while much of the world is gradually becoming accepting of the LGBTQ+ community, it is clear that Asia is largely lagging behind. There is barely any LGBTQ+ content that makes it to the theatres or mainstream television, especially from where I come from in Malaysia. With "Papa & Daddy" and GagaOOLala, I genuinely believe we can reach out to a larger online audience and ultimately, amplify the message of love and acceptance, diversity, and equality for all, regardless of one’s sexual orientation”.

Lin, executive producer on "Papa & Daddy", speaks about the opportunity to “help shape the narrative on the modern family and in the process assist LGBTQ+ individuals who have contemplated starting a family”. 

“As a gay parent myself, I have heard people question whether children raised under LGBTQ+ households could grow up physically and psychologically healthy,” he says.  

Chen speaks about the series as helping “to showcase the challenges of gay parenting but also celebrate its new beginnings”. 

“While there is a lot of LGBT-related content that talks about the hardships of starting same-sex parented families, there is little or absolutely no content focusing on the roles and responsibilities that come with being a gay parent,” she says. 

"Papa & Daddy" is the second installment in GagaOOLala’s anthology “Queer Up The Volume”, a collection of original queer love stories, each with its own title song and music video, aiming to portray different facets of contemporary queer life and its issues. The project received a subsidy from the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development of the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture. 

Director’s involved in “Queer Up The Volume” include Kuang-Hui Liu ("Your Name Engraved Herein"), Cheng Hun-i ("The Last Painting", "As We Like It") and Nelson Yeh ("A Taiwanese Tale of Two Cities"). All projects will premiere on GagaOOLala during 2021.

Published in ContentAsia May 2021 magazine