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Repeal Section anti-gay law for a more secular Singapore, urges rights group

Written by gaytourism

Attendees at this year’s Pink Dot in Singapore | Photo: Calum Stuart

A local rights group has added to calls for Singapore to repeal anti-gay law, Section 377A. The rights group, Maruah, said repealing the law would create more secular common space.

President of Maruah, Braema Mathi, said Monday (24 September) that many Singaporeans who support Section 377A are ‘motivated by genuine religious belief’.

Debate over Section 377A of Singapore’s Penal Code, which punishes homosexual sex acts with up to two years in prison, has raged in Singapore since India dismantled similar colonial-era legislation.

‘Maruah is of the view that repealing Section 377A will affirm and uphold the secular common space in society’, Mathi said.

Right to religion ‘should not be exercised in a way that infringes on the human rights of others, and denies the rightful equal status before the law that every person ought to enjoy’ she added.

Religious support

Both Christian and Islamic organizations have urged Singapore to keep Section 377A.

The Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association (PERGAS) warned repealing the law threatened ‘the traditional family unit as the foundation of society’.

Archbishop William Goh appealed to all Catholics to reject repeal efforts ‘for the future of our families, humanity and society’.

‘By accepting homosexual acts as a social norm, the dreadful consequences for the stability of our families, the well-being of our children, and the risks to the common good will be long-term and irreversible,’ he argued.

Local and international rights groups hit back at the support.

Leow Yangfa of Singapore LGBTI organization, Oogachaga, warned this was a dangerous mix of politics and religion. He also said the Archbishop did not speak for all religious people in Singapore, or all Singaporeans.

Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said it was ‘ludicrous’ of the Archbishop to suggest that he and the church are not discriminating against homosexuals.

Society decides

Maruah also said the government should not rely on polls to establish its policy. This month, a survey found more than half of Singapore’s residents supported keeping the law.

Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam, Minister for Law and Home Affairs, said Singapore was ‘deeply split’ on the issue. ‘The majority are opposed to any change to Section 377A. They are opposed to removing it’.

‘I think society has got to decide which direction it wants to go. And the laws will have to keep pace with changes in society and how society sees these issues’, he said.

Last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, also said he would wait until society changed before altering the law.

‘My personal view is that if I don’t have a problem — this is an uneasy compromise — I’m prepared to live with it until social attitudes change,’ Lee told the BBC.

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