After Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday (Aug 21) that Section 377A of the Penal Code will be repealed, the organisers of Protect Singapore Townhall said they were “deeply disappointed” that the law would be repealed before implementing safeguards that would provide protections from what they called LGBTQ+ extremism.
On July 23, Mr Jason Wong, the founder of Yellow Ribbon Project as well as the Dads for Life movement, and Mohamed Khair Mohamed Noor, the CEO & Founder of The SuChi Group, held a meeting to uphold Section 377A. It was attended by 1,200 people.
Messrs Wong and Mohd wrote in a much-shared Facebook post after PM Lee’s speech, “We are deeply disappointed that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that the government will be repealing Section 377A without the assurance that comprehensive safeguards will be put in place to protect our children and freedom of conscience against LGBTQ+ extremism.”
In his speech, PM Lee said that he believes repealing Section 377A “is the right thing to do and that most Singaporeans will now accept it. This will bring the law into line with current social mores and I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans.”
PM Lee: The Govt will repeal s377A & decriminalise sex between men. I believe this is the right thing to do & that most Singaporeans will now accept it. This will bring the law into line with current social mores & I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans.#NDR2022 #NDRsg
— leehsienloong (@leehsienloong) August 21, 2022
He acknowledged that Singaporeans still have differing views on homosexuality “but most people accept that a person’s sexual orientation and behaviour is a private and personal matter, and that sex between men should not be a criminal offence,” and added that “even among those who want to retain Section 377A, most do not want to see it being actively enforced and criminal penalties applied.”
Last month, Messrs Wong and Mohd wrote a statement urging the Government to “maintain the current political package” and not repeal “Section 377A unless and until there are adequate safeguards for our marriages, families, and freedom of conscience. This includes enshrining man-woman marriage in the Constitution.”
On Sunday, they reiterated some of the calls they’ve made in the Protect Singapore Townhall Report.
These include amending the Constitution to enshrine the definition of marriage as a man-woman union, putting in place laws and policies that would ban the “promotion, endorsement or propagation of LGBTQ+ ideas to children” below 18, and other such safeguards and protections against what they perceive as extremism.
“There are more townhalls in the works, and we look forward to partnering with many other like-minded citizens to discuss and work on the best way forward for Singapore to continue flourishing,” the two men wrote.
On July 28, a few days after Protect Singapore Townhall, AWARE released a statement saying “LGBTQ rights do not impinge on the rights of straight people any more than the existence of one colour impinges on another.”
AWARE wrote that the argument that certain groups need to be protected “falsely assumes that the rights and recognition of one group impinges on those of another, as if freedom was a limited quantity that only so many people might enjoy at one time. Logically, this does not follow.”
The group also underlined what has been problematic with Section 377A, writing that it “not only stigmatises sexual activity between consenting gay men, who deserve to live a life with dignity,” but “it also has repercussions on the broader LGBTQ community,” who have been subject to bullying and discrimination. /TISG
AWARE: LGBTQ rights do not impinge on the rights of straight people
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Ban divorce and criminalise adultery instead: netizens on ‘protect 377A’ townhall – Singapore News