LGBT community speaks up against townhall held to uphold 377A; police say no action will be taken against organisers

On July 23, organizers held an event at the Singapore Expo convention centre to urge the government “to maintain the current political package and not to repeal Section 377A,” the section of the Penal Code that criminalizes sex between men.

Section 377A, a holdover from colonial times, does not appear to be not up for repeal, even though rights groups have called for it. The position of the government has been that it will not be enforced and people will not be persecuted, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam underlined in a BBC interview last month.

The July 23 event, which was attended by 1,200 people, was called Protect Singapore Townhall, and appears to prove another point Mr Shanmugam made in the interview, that “a significant proportion of our population, the middle ground as it were, don’t want that law repealed.”

It was organized by 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. 

“We urge the Government to maintain the current political package and not to 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,” wrote the two men in a Facebook post concerning the event.

The media did not receive invitations to cover the event.

“Youths, parents, educators, workers, and more decided that it was #timetoactSG to protect family, marriage, our freedom of conscience, and most importantly our children, who are at the heart of these social institutions,” added the organizers.

Members of Singapore’s LGBTQ+ community have spoken up against the event.

“It is not right for a group to hold the whole country hostage on social progress, especially when the concessions that they are demanding in return for acceptance of repeal will disadvantage a group that they do not represent,” said Mr Clement Tan in a statement on behalf of LGBTQ+ advocacy group Pink Dot SG.

“To do so would run counter to fundamental values of justice and equality, and upset the delicate balance of pluralism that Singapore has worked so hard to establish.” 

Mr Tan added that Pink Dot is concerned by some of the calls for action at the town hall, which include “enshrining religious values into the supreme law of the land”.

YouTuber pauriahcarey commented at length about the townhall and asked, “Is there anything about man-woman marriage that is so fragile that it requires constitutional protection?” 

However, a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) spokesman said that while police reports have been filed related to the event, no action will be taken against the organizers since there was no criminal offence disclosed.

The event was a private one for invitees only, and its organisers applied for a police permit to hold the event.

“Everyone, including religious groups, is entitled to their views on different matters, including on LGBT issues, and to express their views, so long as they do not denigrate any groups of persons, and do not break any laws,” TODAY quotes MHA as saying. /TISG

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