Word: taboo
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...five-tier caste system. The archaic social structure went the way of the shoguns during Japan's Meiji transformation in the late 19th century. Yet the burakumin still exist on the fringes of this mostly homogenous society, and fight the age-old battles of discrimination. "It's still a taboo," says Hiroshi Kanto, organizer of a burakumin rights group in Kyoto. "It probably always will...
Anything goes at taboo. As your eyes get used to the dim blue lighting, you catch silhouettes of couples kissing, touching, and necking openly, both on and off the dance floor. The first surprise is that almost all the patrons are male. Surprise No. 2 - are you sitting down? - is that this is in Singapore...
...that most uptight of Asian countries has a surprisingly lively gay scene. Taboo is one of three nightclubs in the Tanjong Pagar suburb that has a large homosexual clientele. At the two 24-hour coffee shops, it's not unusual to see flamboyantly attired drag queens enjoying a late night snack. By day, the café at the Borders bookstore downtown is a popular gay hangout. Those who prefer to stay in the closet can find refuge in numerous websites and Internet chat groups run by local gay activists. "Singapore is probably the safest place to live in Asia...
...Singaporeans say they've never had it so good. Although nightspots like Taboo have existed for years, the emergence of a gay "district" like Tanjong Pagar was unthinkable a few years ago. Now the government closes one eye to the existence of these places as long as the patrons behave. If the laws are still weighted against them, gays reason that the government has its compulsions. "Singapore is an island nation surrounded by Muslim states. It would be too provocative to repeal any anti-gay laws now," explains Addie Loh, one of Taboo's owners. Loh won't allow...
...realize there is much silliness and hypocritical outrage surrounding the vocabularies of political correctness. But n----- is a word with an evil magic about it, from long, long ago, and therefore should be, to anyone with sense or manners, taboo...