The Singapore Parliament revoked, Tuesday, November 29, a law criminalizing sex between men. “Section 377A” of the Singapore Penal Code dates back to the days of British colonization and has long been criticized as discriminatory and stigmatizing the LGBT+ community. A first step towards its abolition had already been taken in February. A college of judges had then decreed that the law kept a symbolic role, but that it could no longer be applied on the territory.
Roy Tan, a doctor who was among the plaintiffs who challenged the law in court, hailed “the birth of a new chapter in the history of Singapore’s LGBT community”. “With the repeal of this law, we can gradually dismantle all barriers to visibility and progress for queer citizens, since there is no longer a reason for discriminatory treatment”, he estimated. For his part, the Minister of Justice declared to Parliament that this reform was “the right thing to do, because consensual sex between men can no longer be considered a crime”.
But, at the same time, the Singaporean Parliament amended the Constitution, to specify that a marriage could only take place between a man and a woman. This amendment effectively prohibits unions of same-sex couples. The Minister of Social and Family Affairs, whose administration had proposed this change, warned on Tuesday that any celebration of a union between people of the same sex “was against the law”.