Aw... C'mon!

The Straits Times (Sep 18 2007)
Home, H11

Male homosexual sex to remain a crime (An excerpt)

The public has spoken: Homosexual sex will remain a crime in Singapore.

The government has decided to retain Section 377A of the Penal Code which makes it an offence for any male to "commit an act of gross indecency" with another male, either in public or private.

The public feedback on the issue had been "emotional, divided and strongly expressed", with the majority of them calling for the section to be retained.

The status quo was arrived at after "looking at the interests of the community as a whole" but the police would not actively prosecute people under that section.

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It just brings back yet another episode (among numerous) when the government did not yield to the public's outcry. Despite the public outcry against raising public transportation prices, the price increase went ahead.

So it looks like what one of the Nominated Members of Parliament said was set to be prophetic.

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The move to retain homosexuality as a crime was a "pity" and a "lost opportunity". It "shows up Singapore as being behind the rest of the world."

As even Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew also noted that homosexuals are "mostly born that way" and that "no public purpose is served in interfering in their private lives", the NMP asked, "Do we need to wait another 23 years for homosexual sex to be decriminalised?"

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I applaud the NMP's efforts but I think 23 years is very conservative. Unless the pink sector really shows what they feel, change may not even come in this lifetime!