It’s a day that LGBTQ+ activists have long dreamt of – Singapore’s controversial colonial-era ban on gay sex has been repealed.
But as many campaigners have come to expect over the years, there was a catch – marriage equality isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Parliamentarians voted to repeal Section 377A of the country’s criminal code that made sex between men punishable by up to two years in prison.
Section 377A, enacted in 1938 during British rule, has not been enforced in 15 years and does not apply to women.
Yet activists have long said that Section 377A is a symbol of – and an excuse for – the stigma and discrimination LGBTQ+ Singaporeans face.
The decision to at long last rip the law out of the books followed a 10-hour debate over two days, with 93 MPs in the People’s Action Party-dominated legislature voting in favour of the long-sought move.
The ruling party refused to lift the whip, shrugging off pleas from religious groups to let MPs vote individually.
Workers’ Party MPs Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) and Dennis Tan (Hougang), and Nominated MP Hoon Hian Teck were the only three to vote against scrapping it.
Government ministers defended the double-edged vote, however, making clear that it is up to lawmakers, not the courts, to define marriage.
Home affairs minister K Shanmugam said in parliament this week: ‘We will try and maintain a balance… to uphold a stable society with traditional, heterosexual family values but with space for homosexuals to live their lives and contribute to society.’
Shanmugam insisted, however, that: ‘The time has come for us to remove Section 377A. It humiliates and hurts gay people.
‘Most gay people do not cause harm to others, they just want to live peacefully and quietly and be accepted as part of society the same as any other Singaporean.’
There were mixed feelings among LGBTQ+ campaigners in Singapore about the vote. Relief that queer people can freely have sexual relations, but frustration at a major roadblock being built for marriage equality.
Pink Dot, which organises the country’s LGBTQ+ Pride rally, said today’s vote was the result of years-long efforts by campaigners.
‘The repeal of Section 377A would not have been possible without generations of activists, community groups, allies and legal teams leading constitutional challenges that led to the repeal of 377A, the organisation said.
‘THANK YOU for your hard work!’
Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong first announced he would change his own opposition to decriminalising gay sex in August.
Though he stressed he would both chuck Section 377A while also proposing a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman.
This, he said in a televised National Day Rally speech, would be something of a compromise between LGBTQ+ people and powerful religious groups.
‘We will keep our policies on family and marriage unchanged and maintain the prevailing norms and social values of our society,’ Hsien said.
But LGBTQ+ activists saw otherwise, seeing it as a way to prevent them from looking to the courts to see the government’s equal marriage ban as unconstitutional.
And these conflicting feelings were felt by Stonewall, a British LGBTQ+ campaign group, too.
Nancy Kelley, the charity’s chief executive, told Metro.co.uk: ‘The news from the Singaporean parliament is a major breakthrough for gay and bi men in Singapore, whose relationships will no longer be criminalised.’
Kelley said she hopes the vote, which comes amid a wave of Asian countries such as India and Taiwan doing the same, may embolden even more to do the same.
‘But we are deeply disappointed that Singaporean lawmakers have at the same time created a new constitutional barrier to progress towards marriage equality,’ she added.
‘At Stonewall, we stand with the Singaporean activists who have shown such incredible leadership and will continue our work as part of a global movement for change until all LGBTQ+ people are free to be themselves and live their lives to the full.’
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