Singapore will repeal a law banning gay sex, making it legal to be gay in the city-state. The decision, announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on national television, comes after years of intense debate.
LGBT activists in Singapore have hailed the move as “a victory for humanity”. The city-state is known for its conservative values, but in recent years a growing number of people have called for the repeal of colonial-era Law 377A.
Singapore is the last place in Asia to advance LGBT rights, after India, Taiwan and Thailand.
The administration’s previous stance was to uphold 377A, which bans sex between men but also vowed not to enforce the law to appease both sides.
But on Sunday night, Mr Lee said they would abolish the law as he believed “this is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will accept”.
He noted that “gay people are now better accepted” and scrapping 377A would bring the country’s laws in line with “current social mores, and I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans”
“We finally did it, and we’re ecstatic that this discriminatory, antiquated law will be off the books. There’s a sense that maybe it took a little too long, but it had to happen, you know. Today we are very happy,” gay activist Johnson Ong told the BBC.
A coalition of LGBT rights groups called it a “hard-won victory and a triumph of love over fear”, adding it was the first step towards full equality.
But they also expressed concern over another announcement Mr Lee made in the same speech.
He had said the government would ensure better legal protection for the definition of marriage as one between a man and a woman. This would effectively make it harder for gay marriage to be legalised.
He said Singapore remains a traditional society with many keen on maintaining family and social norms. LGBT activists called this “disappointing” and warned that it would further entrench societal discrimination.
Meanwhile, Protect Singapore, a conservative group, said they were “deeply disappointed” that the repeal was going ahead without assurance of “comprehensive safeguards”.
They called for the definition of heterosexual marriage to be fully enshrined in the constitution and laws banning “LGBT promotion” to children.