Singapore will decriminalise sex between men - PM
Singapore will decriminalise sex between men but has no plans to change the legal definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said today.
Lee (above) said Singaporean society, especially young people in the city-state, is becoming more accepting of gay people.
"I believe this is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will now accept," he said in his annual national day rally speech, adding that the government would repeal Section 377A of the penal code, a colonial-era law that criminalises sex between men.
It was unclear when exactly the law would be repealed.
Singapore becomes the latest Asian country to move closer to ending discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community.
In 2018, India's highest court also scrapped a colonial-era ban on gay sex, while Thailand has recently edged closer to legalising same-sex unions.
In Singapore, under Section 377A, offenders can be jailed for up to two years under the law, but it is not currently actively enforced. There have been no known convictions for sex between consenting adult males for decades and the law does not include sex between women or other genders.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) groups have brought multiple legal challenges attempting to strike down the law, but none has succeeded.
Resistance
In February, Singapore's highest court ruled that since the law is not being enforced, it does not breach constitutional rights, as the plaintiffs had argued, and it reaffirmed that the law could not be used to prosecute men for having gay sex.
Resistance remains to repealing the law, especially among certain religious groups including Muslims, Catholics and some Protestants, Lee said.
Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-religious society of 5.5 million, of whom about 16 percent are Muslim, with bigger Buddhist and Christian communities. It has a predominantly ethnic Chinese population with sizeable Malay and Indian minorities, according to the 2020 census.
Lee stressed his government's continued support for the traditional definition of marriage.
"We believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, that children should be raised within such families, that the traditional family should form the basic building block of society," he said.
Singapore will "protect the definition of marriage from being challenged constitutionally in the courts", he said, adding: "This will help us repeal Section 377A in a controlled and carefully considered way."
- Reuters
While this is an expected move, I am quite sure the LGBTQ community will not be happy about the intention to enshrine the traditional family make up of a father and mother in marriage.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I am quite fine with the repeal of section 377A. To me, to each its own.
However, the gay community should not push further eg gay marriage because such acceptance by the larger community takes a much longer time, if at all.
While this is still "discriminatory" to the gay community, my advice would be "savour the victory thus far"
Right move by Singapore.
ReplyDeleteMaintain the legal status of Marriage as a union of a Man and a Woman.
+/+ or -/- should not have the legal status of marriage.
But remove the all encompassing criminalisation in Section 377A.
What goes on behind closed doors between consenting adults should not be the business of the police.
I have no expectation that Malaysia will remove Its Section 377A, because reactionary PAS holds sway.