Is it illegal to be gay in singapore

FOCUS September 2011 Volume Vol. 65

Being Queer (Lesbian or Transgender) in Singapore

Sylvia Tan

Singapore is one of nine countries in Asia - alongside Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Malaysia and Myanmar - that criminalizes male-to-male sexual relations. Female-to-female sex is not criminalized.
A legacy of its British colonial past, Section 337A of Singapore's Penal Code provides for up to two years imprisonment if a male is convicted of having sexual relations with another male person, even if it is among consenting adult men in private. Section 377A states:

Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years.

In 2007, at the finish of a year-long review of the Penal Code - the most wide-ranging in twenty-two years, the Singapore government announced its verdict to retain the law that criminalizes oral sex among males while decriminalizing oral and anal sex among opposite-sex parties.
The former Section 377

Singapore parliament repeals gay sex ban but limits prospect of legalising same-sex marriage

Sex between men has been decriminalised in Singapore, but an amendment to the constitution to prevent court challenges that has seen same-sex marriage legalised in other countries has left LGBT advocates disappointed.

Key points:

The repeal and the constitutional amendment passed with an overwhelming majority
Singapore's prime minister has ruled out any changes to the legal definition of marriage
There is no timeline for when the new laws will come into effect

The decision on Tuesday comes as other parts of Asia, including Taiwan, Thailand and India move to recognise more rights for the LGBT community.

Activists cheered the repeal, but said the amendment to the constitution was disappointing.

The government has defended amending the constitution, saying decisions on such issues should not be led by the courts.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his successor, Deputy PM Lawrence Wong, have ruled out any changes to the current legal definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

"We will try and maintain a balance … to uphold a reliable society with trad
Recent surveys in Singapore possess revealed a mixed response towards LGBTQ+ rights and issues.
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History
Homosexual action in Singapore
?
Homosexual activity in Singapore is legal.
Same-sex marriage in Singapore
?
Same-sex marriage in Singapore is banned.
Current status
At the same time as Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the clause in the penal code known as Section 377a would be repealed, he reiterated that the institution of marriage would remain "between a human and a woman". Further restrictions were imposed on gay marriage in Singapore on November 29th, the same year.
Right to convert legal gender in Singapore
?
Right to change legal gender in Singapore is legal, but requires surgery.
Current status
Legal, but requires surgery
Gender reassignment surgeries are legal in Singapore, and in 1973 the government allowed patients to change their self cards. This change implicitly recognized marriages that included an individual that had undergone surgery.

In 1996, Member of Parliament (MP) Abdullah Tarmugi mad
It’s Illegal, but Real: Telling Stories of Gay Experience in SingaporeInterview with Leon Cheo (BFA/CRPR ’10)
December 17, 2018
Leon Cheo (BFA/CRPR ’10) was excited when he was approached by Deed for AIDS in Singapore to create a present about gay life in his country, where homosexuality is illegal, “because I’m gay and it touches on so many aspects of my life,” he says. A graduate of Chapman’s Creative Producing program in Singapore, Cheo partnered fellow Chapman alumna Jen Nee Lim (BFA/CRPR ’10) to create a web series, People Like Us. “Who else but your classmates do you extend out to when you need help,” Cheo says.
“I wrote the script based on my own experiences with coming out, dating website , dealing with STI’s, entertaining dating stories, and online dating horror stories,” says Cheo of the series, which has just been renewed for a second season. For Lim, it was the challenge of doing something different, and of “being able to leave into Singapore as a gay man,” a society, as a woman, she didn’t know. “Filmmaking is always about going into a world unknown, which is the exciting part for me,” she says.
“It is an interesting venture that has not been done in Singapore before,” she says. Although h

Gay culture gaining momentum in Singapore
Singapore – Homosexuality in this Southeast Asian city-state has been illegal here for more than a century, dating back to law under colonial British rule. In a country that still lashes convicted criminals with a cane, sexual contact between men is punishable by up to two years in jail.
But in recent years the country has grow ambivalent about enforcing its homosexuality laws, and as a result, gay customs is slowly emerging here in ways that seemed unimaginable just a decade ago.
“Pink Dot Sg” – a perform on words on Singapore’s nickname, Small Red Dot – is an open-air event where thousands dress in pink and gather to form a colossal dot in assist of lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and gender diverse (LGBT) causes. The festival marks its fifth year on June 29, and the organisers utter they expect turnout to be enormous.
Attendance estimates for the first Pink Dot event in 2009 ranged from 500 to 2,500, while last year’s event drew a register 15,000 people.
Major corporations have begun to sponsor the event, including Google, JP Morgan, and Barclays.
“The growing number of companies who are coming out and supporting social movements like Pink Do