According to section 3777A of the Singapore Penal Code, men who have intimate relationships with other men can be jailed for up to two years. In 2007 was the last time that Parliament discussed the possibility of eliminating this law, but they decided to keep it without enforcing it.
Now, in a historic move, Singapore has announced it will repeal the colonial-era law criminalizing sex between men. This was stated by the Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, after the National Day March held on August 21:
I think it’s the right thing to do and it’s something that most Singaporeans will now accept…Private sexual behavior between consensual adults does not create any security issues.
Despite the law’s repeal, Hsien said he will protect the “institution of marriage” and will not allow same-sex marriage to be endorsed because, “under the law, only marriages between a man and a woman are recognized in Singapore.”
At the moment there is no exact date on which the law will be formally repealed, but this makes Singapore the last Asian country to eliminate discriminatory legislation against people from the LGBTQ+ community.
LGBTQ+ groups said the repeal of the law was a “hard-won victory, a triumph of love over fear” that was long overdue.
In addition, they stressed that although this is a great advance in terms of rights, it is only “the first step on a long road towards equality for homosexual people.”