THE NEW YORK TIMES: I was at a watch party last month, waiting excitedly for the expected announcement that Singapore would finally decriminalize consensual sex between gay men.
Section 377A of Singapore’s Penal Code, a holdover from British colonial times, has loomed as a barrier to queer rights, setting the tone for discrimination in broader areas like housing, health care and employment.
Although the government had years ago stopped enforcing it, repeal gave gay Singaporeans like me hope that we might finally be accepted, and cheers went up when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivered the news. But the room went silent moments later.
Anxious to reassure conservatives, Mr. Lee quickly added that marriage was defined as between a man and a woman and would be protected from further legal challenge through a constitutional amendment. No changes were mentioned in other policy areas that marginalize us. The status quo, justified by the familiar refrain of family values, would be maintained.
Rather than a gesture of reconciliation, the government cynically validated bigoted factions that have historically abused and organized against queers. » | Joel Tan * | Thursday, September 22, 2022
* Joel Tan is a Singaporean playwright and artist based in London. His play Tango dramatized the human cost of Singapore’s homophobic policy environment.
