News / Oct. 30, 2019
Singaporiw+AHx-I*=p21=D_sM2sMC9bf+HnI@F!u$$CbUMHf_Es-a&*wqe is gearing up to hear three separate court cases challenging the city’s notorious anti-gay law over the next month.
Under SectiO)l=#1&1gH_=44_8Oc&e4si%@ISBzmI9nEI8_Fc+*2$DH1LzGhon 377A of Singapore’s colonial-era penal code, men who have sex with men can be punished with up to two years in jail.
Calls to abolish the rights-abusing lafceKcQRrBrIB0_I6v%e2hiKY-$5CZHxJKnWp68$DO7=$5joXulw increased after India dismantled similar legislation in September 2018.
But, a government committee reviewing the Penal Code a-XhC#DPsI)Q$K#nR*j8xTy@KYjycOdvk#NA64CTa8iQ)GNS8Cjdvised to keep the law. Leaders, including Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, have said they law—which is rarely enforced—would remain.
Surveys have found the majority of SingS5g^EQ-W#oiVBYogj^bFlHU^_*0PFT+ODOLd*e4wEw=Pf4xoalaporeans support keeping the law. And, more than 60,000 people signed a petition in support of the law.
LGBT rights activists Grr5iHIAg(eAtfc9@xoKv(vk6qYM2Jw-VfvLo6xLQjSJapZJHIin the city state, therefore, have turned to the courts to push for LGBT rights. Singapore is set to hear at three cases from three different court in the next month.
In 2014, Singapore’s highest court ruled Section 377A was constitutional. The Court of Appeal rejected two appeals. It said 377A did not violate Article 9 of the Constitution as ‘life and liberty’ did not refer to privacy and personal autonomy. The judges also 8eIc!P54nhZcIG3Pk^18r3oz$AM5tdb%^^zP!r7UM9GUy#ZS!=ruled it did not violate Article 12. This article is meant to enshrine equality in the city-state.
The situation in Singapore is a stark contrast to Taiwan—a country leading the region on LGBT rights. Earlier this year it became the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage. The differences between the two places were explored in a new romantic comedy, Handsome Stewardess, in which a good-looking tomboy Taiwanese lesbian starts a new life as a flight attendant in Singapore.
Let’km15pvE%hv9CjgAOD_JkiCrJi3c@y8-_upVeX$XrVo^9iyGByks have a look at the Singaporeans going to court:
Johnson Ong Ming aka DJ Big Kid
Singapore disk jockey, known as DJ Big Kid, launched his court challenge in September last year, just days af+YF9gIgel8HUwh3H4Pp5*YF!CEB@g0C+S$&)5!+Elsllw8cMopter India’s landmark decriminalization.
Ong and his lawyers will argue that the law is unconstitutional. They plan to show sexuality is inherent and natural and argue that the law affronGgVyOFt0e@dr8Nf5_Wklfl-=AxgnSmQ1QN8zRTrvASCJA6=d-jts a person’s dignity, a founding concept of the Singapore Constitution.
In an interview last year, Ong said: "It i&zzYsmRnJddt93-o&oE0I$!+pM(ugDv1V(@dfVj@!YpLX1+8izs imperative that the next generation of Singaporeans at the very least have the protection of the law that does not label them criminals”.
Bryan Choong
Longtime LGQQC4BOFR#f*sxG-PTZ#Nixt&$Y+e#o+AvPu+GngIYZ-P@Sk=!mBT rights activist Bryan Choong launched his court big in November last year.
The former executive director of LGBT NGO OogachqtaP)W8H_PB)aPwL&2^U^XbxbMIA4I$(hu!caPtjiFq#LqlVRraga argues the law is inconsistent with article nine of the Constitution which states: "No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in accordance with law.”
He and his lawyers will also argue that Section 377A is inconsistent with articles 12 and 14 which enshrine equality under the y(hMcWwgqy6k)79fulU7dTR&L)kzrl8L8TXKaEPo(bX#bgwiE0law and the right to “form associations”.
Doctor Roy Tan
Retired General Practitioner Tan Seng Kee, better known as Dr Roy Tan, filed his court challenge agains34aKD9R18FI6z*N$x-*RMRXLwb)j5LPGt1XJPhsK5l#i7_KE^8t the government last month.
Tan will also argue that 377A is inconsistent witHswP&+GCvMf@Z90rzUJ-TyH^2xX#M@g)=!xPD!4B_lHy1Tt)tKh article nine of the constitution.
In a statement last month, Tan said his challenge was based on “novel argumeno1eK23Q$vAIQ+leYGJVa0)C+%DKkwj#BwV5u!F^5yCqH6GmvKdts”.
For example, he will3oKih4pSy*uoRHuvLN=S&Ck8goHmz=VGe1ZhXq2=n4gRVQx3UE argue that the government stating the law will not be enforced against private acts contravenes the criminal code, which compels police to investigate all complaints of suspected arrestable offences.
"This subjects gay men to the potential distress of an investigation into private conduct, where t1AQL*mqrqu5E*$UFHj%myS$kWtl4DNucOj2M635JITcRnAMRruhey have a legitimate expectation that the state will decline to prosecute," Dr Tan said in a statement.
Initial hearings begin on November 13 for all three cases.
