LGBTQ activists say they look to Parliament to ‘deal the final blow’ after court upholds decision not to repeal Section 377A

Singapore’s highest court dismissed the appeal to repeal Section 377A, the law criminalising sex between men on Monday (Feb 28).

The court said that since Section 377A of the Penal Code cannot be used to prosecute men for having gay sex, the challenges brought forward by the three men have no legal standing.

LGBTQ group Pink Dot SG is now saying that it looks to Parliament to repeal Section 377A.

Three activists mounted the legal challenges. One challenge was filed by Roy Tan, an LGBTQ rights activist, in September 2019. The other two challenges were filed in 2018, one by disc jockey Johnson Ong Ming (aka DJ Big Kid) and the other by Bryan Choong, the former executive director of Oogachaga, an LGBTQ non-profit organisation.

After their challenges were dismissed in March 2020, the men filed their appeals to repeal Section 377A at the apex court.

Pink Dot SG, an LGBTQ+ advocacy movement started in 2009, responded to the court’s ruling in a Facebook post on Monday afternoon, calling it “a devastating blow to Singapore’s LGBTQ+ community.”

The group thanked Messrs Tan, Ong and Choong for their courage in mounting the legal challenge, even as it expressed that it is “profoundly disappointed in the outcome.”

“Section 377A’s real impact lies in how it perpetuates discrimination across every aspect of life: at home, in schools, in the workplace, in our media, and even access to vital services like healthcare,” Pink Dot SG wrote.

The group took exception to being cited by the court as an example of how Section 377A does not “generate a chilling effect that stifles advocacy.”

“Pink Dot SG and other LGBTQ+ rights advocates exist in spite of impediments like Section 377A, and we should never be used as examples to minimise their impact or justify their retention.”

Clement Tan, a spokesman for the group, said that the onus is now on Parliament to “deal the final blow to Section 377A” adding that it “urges Singapore’s leaders to act urgently and decisively to repeal this redundant law.”

Pink Dot SG cited promises from Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong to protect and provide for the needs of different groups.

“Allowing 377A to remain on our books is incompatible with these promises, and our nation’s purported values of justice and equality. It is time for our leaders to go beyond maintaining uneasy compromises and take affirmative steps towards equality.”

On Tuesday, a Community Statement was issued by various LGBTQ+ groups in Singapore, including Pink Dot SG, Sayoni, Oogachaga, and many others.

/TISG

Li Huanwu and Heng Yirui post photo on Instagram after challenges to Section 377A dismissed