Sgapore gay sex: untry to repeal lonial era law crimalizg sex between men, says prime mister | CNN

Contents:

• WHAT I WISHED MY PARENTS SAID WHEN I TOLD THEM I WAS GAY: REAL LGBTQ COMG OUT STORI & ROURC FOR SUPPORT
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• SGAPORE REPEALS GAY SEX BAN BUT LIMS PROSPECT OF LEGALIZG SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN IS FIRST AMERIN MALE PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• END OF SGAPORE'S GAY SEX BAN A 'SMALL STEP' FOR SOME LGBT UPL
• CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER
• A YEAR AFTER SGAPORE DECRIMALIZED GAY SEX, ITS LGBT COMMUNY TURNS ATTENTN TO FAY
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

WHAT I WISHED MY PARENTS SAID WHEN I TOLD THEM I WAS GAY: REAL LGBTQ COMG OUT STORI & ROURC FOR SUPPORT

-- Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's profsnal sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer and to possibly spire others siar 's a cisn and move that drew praise and support om owner Shad Khan, who was a vol and emphatic supporter of a cy ordance that expand protectns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and genr exprsn. “We will try and mata a balance…to uphold a stable society wh tradnal, heterosexual fay valu, but wh space for homosexuals to live their liv and ntribute to society, ” Home Affairs Mister K. Authori argued that reflected Sgapore society's view that homosexualy was not last week s parliament repealed the law, jt months after lear Lee Hsien Loong's surprise announcement they would scrap the ban bee of changg repeal of 377A turns the page on a dark chapter of Sgapore history that is rarely talked about the days, where gay men not only faced tense social stigma but were even actively targeted by Heng and the other men at Esplana Park that night were let off wh only a warng.

This was later overturned an appeal, wh the judge notg that the way the men were ught and charged was "disquietg" many gay men, the raids sent a clear msage that their existence was owned upon. That was part of the stct of beg gay back then, " said Mr Heng, who is 71 years the 2000s the raids had creased, and the issue of homosexualy - once a taboo topic - beme creasgly openly discsed. Recent surveys show that, while there is still a signifint number who thk homosexualy is "wrong", there is also risg support for gay cy-state has veloped a thrivg LGBT scene, wh an creasg number of LGBT-iendly tablishments and pani promotg diversy polici.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Later, they were taken to an upsle hilltop rtrant - a popular gay cisg spot the past, they were Tng told the BBC he cid to start givg LGBT history tours after realisg there was an "amnia", particularly among younger Sgaporeans. His tours have attracted a mix of both straight and gay oute of the lack of enforcement of 377A is that "there are people who don't really re bee they've never been subjected to , " he more attentn paid to 377A recent years, cludg legal attempts to overturn , "there's been greater tert and people are more cur now" about LGBT history, though "the rourc are still lackg", he source, BBC/Tsa WongImage ptn, Mr Tng's tours attract a mix of gay and straight attenWh 377A's repeal, the law is now officially a thg of the past. The vote also saw parliamentarians voicg ncern about "ant homosexuals" and the erosn of relig eedoms, which LGBT groups turn have lled "unsubstantiated rhetoric and fearmongerg".

Sgapore’s Prime Mister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday said the untry will repeal the lonial-era Sectn 377A of Sgapore’s Penal Co, thereby crimalizg gay sex Sgapore, but add that same-sex marriage will ntue to be illegal the cy-state. In June, Thailand edged closer to beg the first place Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex unns when lawmakers passed four different bills aimg to provi greater rights to gay upl, such as the abily to adopt children and manage assets jotly. This is partly bee the LGBT muny is a relatively "visible" one - is not easy to intify who is gay or lbian, although transgenr Sgaporeans who do not "pass" well may be more obv a crowd.

SGAPORE REPEALS GAY SEX BAN BUT LIMS PROSPECT OF LEGALIZG SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Moreover, wh male gay sex havg been crimalised for almost a century unr Sectn 377A of the Penal Co, procreatn beg culturally seen as an important aspect of one's duty to society and wh nsirable peer prsure to adhere to genr norms, there is much shame associated wh beg gay or transgenr. A study of archived evince reveals, on the ntrary, that is homophobia that was foisted upon by the European lonial powers and that we are the herors of a long tradn of acceptance of genr diversy and exprsn.

The Dutch noted that Dyaks, Acehne, Bugis, Bale, Javane, Batak, Mangkab and Che the vast Malay archipelago shared a passnate addictn to vic such as perasty and homosexual sodomy.

We n retropolate om the culture of ntemporary Malays that there was probably much tolerance towards men who dulged surrept homosexual activy, as evinced by the absence of any vol or physil vlence agast such people, outsi of the amework of the imported Islamic socpolil system. Effemate men are risively lled "bapok" (spelt "bap" Standard Malay) or "pondan" (see ma article: Sgapore gay termology), but apart om beg teased and regard ceteris parib as havg a lower stat than their more mascule unterparts, there is no hatred directed agast them, as is so often the suatn the Wt.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN IS FIRST AMERIN MALE PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Constance Mary Turnbull, her work A History of Morn Sgapore 1819-2005, noted that when the Brish started to import large numbers of Che oli soon after the lony's foundg, Haane boys were nantly brought as homosexual prostut for the ntured labourers whose numbers were to rise threefold the last thirty years of the 19th century[10]. "Lamentg the silence of archival rerds on homosexualy Brish Malaya, historian John Butcher suggted some years ago that relatnships between European and Asian men mt have been far om unmon.

Given the easg of hibns afford by travel's transory ndn, one n assume homoerotic timacy and sexual enunters between male tourists and lol youth, particularly servants hotels and boardgho, to have also been not equent.". This ference is le wh the fact that one of the first reported offenc unr Sectn 377A volved a Brish pta, Douglas Marr, who was charged for but acquted of illegal homosexual acts wh a Sgaporean Malay male youth, Sud b Dd, at the pta's home 1941[22],[23],[24].

In the The Stras Tim' 1970 feature on the history of prostutn Sgapore, s 12 April 1970 edn on page 4 mentned a homosexual man named Daffodil Sng (whom they lled a tame) who started a cha of brothels and built a vice empire employg female sex workers.

END OF SGAPORE'S GAY SEX BAN A 'SMALL STEP' FOR SOME LGBT UPL

Wh the crimalisatn of homosexual acts, there mt have been stanc where flagrant nsensual gay sex between lols seedy nocturnal venu met wh supprsn by the police, but crimal prosecutns were rare bee the thori were more ncerned wh homosexual prostutn targetg European clients whose morals they did not want rpted. It is thought that the first plac where homosexual men, pecially Che oli, uld chance upon each other were the public toilets and back alleys near the lony's enomic heart - the btlg Sgapore River, predomantly along the right bank (lookg downstream) of Boat Quay (see ma article: Public toilets Sgapore: gay aspects).

The proximy of Hong Lim Park to Boat Quay may expla why the former beme notor as the first ternatnally known gay cisg renzvo Sgapore to be listed the Spartac Internatnal Gay Gui, the most wily read gay tourist publitn the world (see Sgapore gay venu: historil). Bret Hsch[30], chapter 6 of his book Passns of the Cut Sleeve: the Male Homosexual Tradn Cha, has tailed evince, rived om the works of lerati Li Yu (李漁) and Shen Defu (沈德符), of stutnalised same-sex marriage practic amongst Hokkien men Mg dynasty Cha.

This popular Fujian bond brotherhood tradn was also mentned by Qg dynasty scholar and poet Yuan Mei (袁枚) her work Zi Bu Yu (子不語) which, amongst other supernatural stori, reunts the tale of the Rabb God, the patron y of gay men. Goln Orchid members still existed immigrant Che muni (cludg Sgapore) to the earlier half of the 20th century (see documentatn of major episos of homosexualy throughout Che history: [31],[32],[33]). Siarly, the Indian muny, Dravidian versns of the Northern Indian masti or sexual play between men who were not necsarily gay mt have been wispread given the pcy of women and also well tolerated.

CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER

Before the advent of Brish lonialism and the tablishment of the Indian Penal Co, gay sex was never a crime unr Hdu law, as evinced by sculptur pictg homosexual sex at the temple plex Khajuraho, India.

Around the middle of the 20th century, the word "gay", adopted om the Brish argot ( language) lled Polari to nnote "homosexual", had not yet crept to the lexin of the lonial thori and lols Sgapore. Unbeknownst to all, save the ele few who posssed a knowledge of Japane culture eher through edn or travel, homosexual sex sudnly beme legimate as was never crimalised Japan except for seven years (1872 to 1880) durg the Meiji Rtoratn when Japan diligently emulated many norms of Wtern stutns her effort to "mornise". Even though this theoretilly meant that Sectns 377 and 377A of the Stras Settlements Penal Co once aga held sway, the Japane would not have bothered to prosecute any Sgaporean for gay sex as was not illegal the Japane ary self.

As a segment of a newly-pennt republic wh the schizoid attribut of both optimism and secury, gay Sgaporeans were exhorted to build Prime Mister Lee Kuan Yew's visn of 'a gged society'. This was somewhat to the nsternatn of gays, who were pelled to rema largely the closet, due to the lack of official and social tolerance and an altogether different foc prri. Gays dulgg such trysts were the most part left unimped by the Police, perhaps guid by the pneerg Government's nvictn not to let any Sgaporean be discrimated agast, as they were unr Brish and Feral Malaysian le.

A YEAR AFTER SGAPORE DECRIMALIZED GAY SEX, ITS LGBT COMMUNY TURNS ATTENTN TO FAY

On a more socially rpectable level, homosexuals who were more ntrol of their libidos and who upheld fily or serial monogamy fed closeted relatnships, be they transient or permanent, wh their lovers. Homosexualy, and later, transsexualy were listed as ndns a Sgapore Armed Forc (SAF) 'Directory of Diseas' and recs who outed themselv to the examg doctors at the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) at Dempsey Road had their 'ployabily' nied sensive posns. Wh the prospery that pnt polici of promotg foreign multatnal vtment brought while other regnal untri were mired the efficienci of import substutn and socialist enomics, those homosexuals, pecially the English-ted who uld afford air travel, were exposed to the liberalism of the Wt and the nascent gay movements there.

Exposure to Wtern liberal mocracy, s media and lerature whetted the appete of progrsive homosexuals wh the hope that the lol poly and social i uld evolve to one which uld tolerate their sexualy. The growg populary of travel to Thailand and Japan the late 70's also opened the ey of Sgaporean gays to the possibily that an Asian society uld be nservative and tradnal, but yet acceptg of homosexuals as an tegral part of .

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

The majory of gays, however, uld not afford ternatnal air travel the early 70's and were rtricted to stereotypil portrayals of themselv as effemate or cross-drsg salac dividuals, fed by the heavily-censored media who were prevented om pictg any posive imag of homosexuals whatsoever. One of the first was The Hangar, loted a relatively seclud out-of-town area (Upper East Coast Road) where, for the first time, a large group of predomantly men uld dance together wh gay abandon. Enuraged by this precence, homosexuals started to patronise other, maly straight, diss the cy area such as the upmarket My Place, Black Velvet, Wt End, El Moroc, The Library, Stud M and even the more prosaic NCO Club at Beach Road.

Nightclubs like Pebble Bar loted on the ground floor of the now molished Hotel Sgapura Interntental, and ls popularly Treetops Bar at the Holiday Inn, were creasgly packg the gays and beme inic stutns of the lol gay scene. It ed que a stir, wh schoolgirls all abuzz, and jolted mastream society's nscns to realisg that non-stereotypil gays and lbians who were jt like the average Joe or Jill existed. Some rears were shocked, whilst others lighted, at the startlg revelatn that non-transvte mercial homosexual servic were available Sgapore (see ma article: Sgapore's first newspaper articl on the LGBT muny).

It was groundbreakg that was the first Hollywood movie to be filmed entirely on lotn Sgapore, the first to nta a gay Sgaporean sub-plot plete wh full ontal male nudy and the first to have a Sgaporean trans woman nu scene. Towards the end of the , reliable rmatn dissemated through the grapeve ma the gay populace aware of the sexualy of certa televisn producers, lol sportg superstars, pop idols, sons and nephews of misters and members of parliament, and even Government bet misters themselv. The early 80s was a perd of wispread prospery and new eedoms which saw the openg of clubs like Marmota, Shadow, Legend and Niche which tered to a predomantly gay clientele even though they were not exclively gay.