One small step for LGBTQ+ rights, many more to go for true equality in Asia

After years of debate, Singapore’s government has finally reversed the country’s colonial-era law criminalizing sex between men, making it legal to be homosexual in the city-state.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong believes that repealing Section 377A of the penal code is the right thing to do, and something that Singaporeans will accept. While the law has not been enforced for 15 years, gay rights advocates had long sought to overturn it, saying it promotes discrimination.

Although LGBTQ+ activists in Singapore have hailed the move as a win for humanity, they have also expressed concern over the prime minister’s announcement. He reassured the public that the government had no intention of changing the city-state’s legal definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. He said, “Let me reassure everyone that in handling the issue, the government will continue to uphold families as the basic building blocks of society. We will keep our policies on family and marriage unchanged and maintain the prevailing norms and social values of our society.”

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Enacted in 1938 during British rule, Singapore chose to retain 377A after independence in 1965. Gay rights activists says the law goes against Singapore’s constitution, which prohibits discrimination and and is at odds with the country’s image as a diverse global hub. While many Singaporeans still support 377A, an increasingly visible LGBTQ+ scene has developed in Singapore. Surveys show growing support for LGBTQ+ rights meaning demand for abolition has grown stronger.

Meanwhile, the LGBTQ+ community in Hong Kong is hurting after the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal against same-sex marriage. Jimmy Sham Tsz, a human rights activist who married his partner back in 2013 in the US, is trying to get the partnership legally recognized in his home of Hong Kong. The Court of Appeal only granted access to the institution of marriage to opposite sex partners, and the government had no obligation to recognize same-sex unions. So far, the only country in Asia that has made same-sex marriage legal is Taiwan.