United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is currently leading a congressional trip to Asia, sparking controversy due to a visit to Taiwan even after warnings from Beijing.
Her party’s first stop in Singapore on Monday (Aug 1) has also merited a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which reminded foreign firms to “be careful” when it comes to advocating socially divisive issues such as those involving the LGBT community.
To backtrack, Ms Pelosi issued a statement from Singapore on Aug 1, recapping her meetings with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, President Halimah Yacob, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Senior Ministers Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Teo Chee Hean.
Issues such as security, economic growth and the climate crisis were discussed in the various meetings.
At the end of the statement, Ms Pelosi wrote, “We engaged with leaders of the business community and underscored the importance of public-private sector collaboration to foster strong economic growth across the region.
We asked for their support for the LGBTQ community in Singapore, as more American businesses are establishing and adding offices in Singapore.”
In the past few months, LBTQ issues have been in the news—from the large turnout when the PinkDot rally resumed after two years due to the Covid pandemic, to a Hwa Chong Institution counsellor whose presentation to Secondary 4 students contained misinformation about the LGBT community, to a recent event calling for Section 377A, the law criminalizing gay sex, to be upheld, which was attended by 1,200 people.
On Thursday (Aug 4), the MHA responded to questions from the media concerning Ms Pelosi’s remark.
The ministry reminded foreign firms that they need to be careful when it comes to advocating issues that are potentially socially divisive, including LGBT issues.
“The Government would like to remind foreign businesses that while they are free to promote diversity in their companies, they should be careful about advocacy on issues in Singapore that could be socially divisive,” CNA quotes MHA as saying.
The ministry also said that such issues, including those involving the LGBT community, “are matters for Singaporeans to discuss and come to a consensus on how to move forward”.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam spoke to members of the media on Saturday (July 30), saying that the government is taking a look at the best way to balance most Singaporeans’ view that sex between men should not be a crime, and yet do not want the present position that marriage should be between a man and a woman to be changed.
“Many agree that men who have sex with each other should not be thrown into prison. Gay sex should not be criminalised.
At the same time, most do not want any decriminalisation to cause other major changes. In particular, most people want the current position on marriage to be retained,” Mr Shanmugam said at a doorstep interview. /TISG