Singapore: law against sex between men soon to be repealed

Lhe Singaporean government plans to repeal a colonial-era law criminalizing sex between men soon, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on Sunday 21 August. “The government will repeal (the law) and decriminalize sex between men. I believe it is the right thing to do and something most Singaporeans will now accept,” he added during a speech.

The Prime Minister estimated that the situation has changed compared to 2007, when the authorities decided to keep this law. Homosexuals “are much more accepted today” in Singapore, he said. The repeal of the law “will put the legislation in line with the evolution of mentalities”, judged Lee Hsien Loong.

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The law, a holdover from British colonial rule, provides for a maximum sentence of two years in prison for homosexual acts between men. It is not enforced in practice, but gay rights advocates say it still disenfranchises members of the gay community, despite the city-state’s increasingly modern culture. The Prime Minister made it clear that he would, however, continue to “defend” marriage as the union of a man and a woman.