Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam said that the time has come for Singapore to remove section 377A as it ‘humiliates and hurts gay people’. He said this during the second reading of the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill.
The Bill will be debated alongside the Constitutional Amendment, which seeks to protect the current legal definition of marriage as stipulated in the Women’s Charter, Interpretation Act and Administration of Muslim Law Act.
In the hour-long speech, Minister Shanmugam raised several points including the historical context for S377A and UK’s offences against homosexual conduct and the division on homosexuality around the world; all of which could be read in full on the Ministry of Home Affairs website or you could watch the parliamentary video on MCI Singapore youtube page.
But the most striking comment by the Minister was when he called on the members of the House to show ‘dignity, respect and acceptance’ to a group that he described as wanting to live ‘peacefully and quietly, and be accepted as part of society, the same as any other Singaporean.’
“Let me deal with the first reason. In some religions, homosexuality is considered a sin. As Members heard earlier, some sins are crimes, but not every sin is a crime,” said Minister Shanmugam.
He explained that even with the repeal, non-consensual sexual assault by males against other males, and sexual acts committed by males against young persons (offence regardless of consent) remained a serious crime. Sexual acts between two males committed in public that offends public decency also remain a crime.
“The only thing that will no longer be an offence after the repeal is consensual, male adult homosexual conduct, conducted in private. Such conduct does not raise law-and-order concerns. The time has come for us to remove S377A. It humiliates and hurts gay people.” added Minister Shanmugam.
While S377A exists and is not enforced, there have been no convictions of sex between two consenting male adults for decades, the Minister reminded members of parliament that it is memorialised in law like a sword hanging over their head akin to a ‘daily reminder that every time he engages in private sexual activity, behind closed doors, in the sanctity of his bedrooms, he is nevertheless a criminal.’
Minister Shanmugam believes that compared to 15 years ago when the Penal Code was debated in Parliament, Singapore is now at a stage where society can accept the repeal of S377A. He hopes that this will heal the divide, remove the pain, and makes it clear that gay people are not criminals.