Singapore criticised for not coming out on gays

By Sze Toh Yuin Munn
May 21, 2004

Singapore - Near-naked men simulating sex acts can now be found on postcards in strait-laced Singapore but a prominent gay activist says the government's recent liberalisation of homosexuality is a mirage.

"Every announced loosening up has been followed by waffle and scaling back, if all not altogether contradicted by subsequent decisions," said Alex Au of "People Like Us", whose efforts to register as a society have been twice rejected.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong revealed in an interview with Time magazine last July that gay people now worked in the public service -- a low-key policy shift aimed in part at fostering a creative class.

That declaration was widely viewed as a breakthrough in country famously known as Asia's nanny state for its mix of deep conservatism and tough laws, including a ban on oral sex.

But recent developments are sending mixed signals to activists such as Au on how fast Southeast Asia's wealthiest nation is willing to liberalise social norms and the level of tolerance in the government.

In March, the government rejected a theatre company's application for a licence to hold a forum to discuss gay representation in theatre.

A month later, the government denied an application by "People Like Us" to register as a society, saying it was not ready to embrace alternative lifestyles.

Perhaps the biggest bane for homosexuals in Singapore is a law that still criminalises consensual homosexual acts. Under Penal Code section 377A, acts of "gross indecency" between two men are punishable by up to two years in jail.

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The government said in January it plans to review its sex laws, and that oral sex would most likely be decriminalised -- but only between men and women.

"What we have here is a sodomy law which hitherto has been gender-neutral and sexuality-neutral, being reworked with great effort into a discriminatory piece of legislation," said Au.

"Where we didn't have discrimination in the past, we will have discrimination in the future," he told a luncheon of foreign correspondents.

Other activists say change is happening, but slowly.

"Manazine", a seven-month-old local man's magazine with a large gay readership and a policy that embraces gay writers, has emerged as a symbol of tolerance in a country that banned "Cosmopolitan" magazine until just last year as too racy.

"In general, the government is opening up more considerably," said Arjan Nijen-Twilhaar, the magazine's chief editor though he says "Manazine" has run into some trouble. Singapore's state censors, for example, have banned some advertisements.

And many gays and lesbians say they hide their sexuality from friends and colleagues, fearing recrimination.

"A lot of social stigma is attached to being gay and lesbian in Singapore, you can see how uneasy Singaporeans are when you broach the subject," said Dr Tan Chong Kee, a gay Singaporean.

He partly attributes the ignorance to past government policies and the mass media for perpetuating stereotypes of homosexuals as deviants. Other activists say such attitudes still linger but will break down in time.

"Even though there are currently inconsistencies in the treatment of homosexuality and homosexuals in Singapore, I believe these will eventually be ironed out," said Stuart Koe, head of Fridae.com, Singapore's main gay and lesbian website.

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