Singapore repeals gay sex ban

Singapore repeals gay sex ban
FILE PHOTO: A couple attends Pink Dot, an annual event organised in support of the LGBT community at the Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park in Singapore, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Feline Lim/File Photo

LGBTQ+ people are heavily stigmatized and discriminated against throughout much of southern Asia, and for a long time, gay sex has even been illegal in many of those places. For example, Singapore has had a law on the books since colonial times called 377A that banned sex between men, though the country said it would no longer enforce the law a while back.

But on Sunday, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that the country would repeal the ban on gay sex in a speech where he also discussed Singapore’s need to attract more talent. He didn’t explicitly connect the two, but he said that the move to repeal 377A would bring the nation’s laws up to date with its social norms and that it was “the right thing to do and something that most Singaporeans will now accept."

LGBTQ+ rights groups said they were excited about the law’s repeal but worried about other promises Lee made, including one to codify the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, which would effectively ban same-sex marriage despite the repeal of 377A.

Key comments:

“We finally did it, and we’re ecstatic that this discriminatory, antiquated law is finally going to be off the books. There’s a sense that maybe it took a little too long, but it had to happen, you know. Today we are very, very happy," said activist Johnson Ong.

“The repeal is an extremely regrettable decision which will have a profound impact on the culture that our children and future generations of Singaporeans will live in," said a statement from an alliance of more than 80 churches.

“For everyone who has experienced the kinds of bullying, rejection and harassment enabled by this law, repeal finally enables us to begin the process of healing. For those that long for a more equal and inclusive Singapore, repeal signifies that change is indeed possible," said a joint statement from several LGBTQ+ groups.

“Most Singaporeans do not want the repeal to trigger a drastic shift in our societal norms across the board," said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. “What we seek is a political accommodation that balances different legitimate views and aspirations."