Singapore will repeal a law that bans gay relationships in the city-state, effectively making it legal to be homosexual, which activists are calling a “win for humanity.”
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on national television this week that their colonial era 377A law, which bans gay sex in the city-state, will be banned following years of debate over LGBT+ rights.
India, Taiwan, and Thailand made headlines this year regarding their law changes regarding LGBT+ rights, and now Singapore has joined the list of Asian countries making life easier for their LGBT+ residents.
The government previously had the stance that 377A wouldn’t be enforced as a means of appeasing both sides of the argument, but now, the law will be completely abolished. Lee stated that abolishing this law was “the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will accept.”
“Gay people are not better accepted, scrapping 377A will bring the country’s laws in lime with current social mores, and I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans.”
“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,” gay activist Johnson Ong told the BBC.
LGBT rights groups called it a “hard-won victory and a triumph of love over fear, this is the first step towards full equality.”
Lee also said the government would “ensure better legal protection for the definition of marriage as one between a man and a woman. Singapore remains a traditional society with many keen on maintaining family and social norms,” which LGBT+ activists called a “disappointing” point of view.
“The law perpetuated social stigma against gay people, goes against Singapore’s constitution, which forbids discrimination, and has trickled down to influence other aspects of life.”
Lee stated in his National Day Rally speech that he hopes that individuals on both sides of the argument remain peaceful over the decision: “All groups should exercise restraint, because that’s the only way we can move forward as a nation together.”
Singapore’s 377A law was initially adopted by the British through colonization, but the city-state chose to retain it when they gained their independence in 1965. The law criminalizes sex between men, and is effectively viewed as an overall banning of homosexuality.
The colonial British government in India introduced the law in the 19th century, foreboding “any carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman, or animal.”
In 2018, India’s Supreme Court banned 377A in a historic verdict which gave many LGBT activists in Asia hope for a more equal future. Taiwan recently became the first Asian country to legalize gay marriage.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
