This article was first published on June 7, 2023. 

Some of the struggles that LGBTQ+ community in Singapore had to go through include the difficulty in securing identity-affirming critical services in many areas of life. This is the exact challenge that the upcoming Prout app aims to tackle.

Set to launch in June, the app aims to connect the LGBTQ+ community to four critical service providers in Singapore: healthcare, legal, housing and jobs.

“The reason why we picked these four categories is that we often receive requests from people asking for LGBTQ+ affirming or friendly psychologists and psychiatrists who do not practice conversion therapy, or even an LGBTQ+ friendly gynaecologist or GP who will not judge us for who we are,” explains Prout Director Cally Cheung in an email to e27.

“Similarly, LGBTQ+ people who want to get their will sorted would not want to risk engaging the legal services of someone who may not understand their unique situation outside of the ‘traditional nuclear family’ structures, for example, a marriage that is recognised overseas but not in Singapore, or ensuring their rainbow family is looked after in the event of their demise.”

In other aspects such as housing and employment, the LGBTQ+ community in Singapore is also looking for non-discriminative landlords, realtors, and work environments. According to Cheung, this is a need that has become more urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While there are already existing platforms such as Facebook groups that can help the LGBTQ+ community to identify suitable service providers, Prout sees the need to make it easier for community members to access these critical resources “under one roof.”

Also Read: Building the rainbow bridge: How businesses can foster Diversity & Inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees

A community effort

The app was developed based on the Prout team’s experience in seeking affirming healthcare services as well as from listening to the needs of the community. The team wants to create a web app that serves the community in a meaningful way.

One of the ways to achieve this is by crowdsourcing the information in the web app.

“The information is crowd-sourced through our social media and word-of-mouth recommendations, and we also have service providers and community groups reaching out to help us collate the information proactively. We are confident that through this collective effort, we will be able to help the LGBTQ+ community in a meaningful manner,” Cheung explains.

In its user acquisition strategy, at the moment, Prout is focusing on two types of users: community and service providers.

For the community, Prout will launch the web app at various Pride Month events in Singapore, which also includes a giveaway at the upcoming Pink Dot SG event on June 24. For service providers in the areas of legal, jobs, housing, and healthcare, the organisation is currently crowd-sourcing information by allowing them to create listings on the provided links.

From events to critical services

Founded in 2018, Prout is a self-funded, volunteer-run community group that focuses on the LGBTQ+ in Singapore. It started out by highlighting LGBTQ+ events, but the team realised there were already many channels to get information on events, so they shifted their direction to focus on critical resources that often put the LGBTQ+ community in a vulnerable position.

“We hope to remove the first level of barrier, at the very least, and make the process of finding these critical service providers much easier,” Cheung says.

Since then, Prout has developed a number of community resources and initiatives, including Qurrent, the first Asian LGBTQ+ news and event updates Telegram channel, and Prout Hearts, the first LGBTQ+ volunteering initiative for Singapore.

Also Read: This gay founder is creating a safe media platform for LGBTQ community in SEA

“When I took over Prout entirely in March 2022, I also changed the direction then as the needs of our LGBTQ+ community have evolved greatly, and the pandemic had exacerbated existing vulnerabilities and gaps that became more glaring the past two years. The goal was always to connect the community in meaningful ways, whether it is connecting the community amongst ourselves through the novel, interest-based events such as our Queer Trivia Night SG or ‘Meet Your Next’ series or with the various LGBTQ+ affirming services that we have focused on in the web-app,” Cheung elaborates.

As a non-profit, the organisation supports itself by relying on the proceeds from the Pride merchandise that they sell on their online shop. It also organises and runs DEI corporate engagements, such as its signature Queer Trivia editions, training workshops, and discussion panels.

Prout also self-funded the development and launch of its app without any external funding.

“Despite this, the app is 100 per cent free for community use, and we have no plans to monetise it for now. We believe in self-reliance, and everyone in the team has our own day jobs, which also helps to fund this gay job that we love as well. This is our love letter to the LGBTQ+ community on our own terms,” Cheung says.

This year, promoting and developing the app will be the primary focus for Prout.

“Due to the nature of the content listed on our web app, there will always be more work for us to do to remain helpful and relevant to the community’s needs, in addition to the constant verification processes and checks to ensure that the web app remains a safe space for everyone,” Cheung closes.

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Image Credit: Prout

The post How Prout aims to help LGBTQ+ community in Singapore with its new app appeared first on e27.