Sgapore to Decrimalize Gay Sex | Human Rights Watch

Contents:

• SGAPORE GAY HISTORY
• GAY MEN THE SGAPORE ARMED FORC
• SGAPORE TO DECRIMALIZE GAY SEX
• SGAPORE GAY TERMOLOGY
• SGAPORE GAY BARS
• GAY
• END OF SGAPORE'S GAY SEX BAN A 'SMALL STEP' FOR SOME LGBT UPL
• SGAPORE’S LATT RULG ON GAY SEX IS ‘COLD COMFORT,’ ACTIVISTS SAY

SGAPORE GAY HISTORY

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. 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. 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].

GAY MEN THE SGAPORE ARMED FORC

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. 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.

SGAPORE TO DECRIMALIZE GAY SEX

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". 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. 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. 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.

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.

SGAPORE GAY TERMOLOGY

Wh the weekly gathergs for energetic dancg to let off steam and meet new iends, homosexuals felt the first bonds of a relatively hive muny - a warm feelg of beg weled to a new brotherhood, ntradistctn to erstwhile isolatn, alienatn and lonels for many.

Roy Chan and a group of activist-md healthre profsnals (both gay and straight) to set up a non-ernmental anizatn (NGO) lled Actn for AIDS (AfA) 1988 which provid support and unselg for people livg wh HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) as well as tn to the public regardg safer sex[56]. In the late 90's, the red herrg 'Genr Studi' moniker was replaced by a more ank tle of 'Alternative Lerature', which although a step closer to the tth, still fell short of the ially accurate 'Gay and Lbian Lerature' by which was known the Wt. Gays were perceived of as somewhat of a threat to Asian valu some quarters of the Establishment and plats ma by members the straight public agast rampant cisg, pl the arrival of HIV Sgapore which ially affected maly men-who-have-sex-wh-men (MSM), led to the implementatn of police entrapment.

SGAPORE GAY BARS

" It also placed homosexualy on par wh btialy and paedophilia as far as unsirable material to be censored was ncerned - "pictorial illtratns of sex acts such as group sex, sadomasochistic acts, paedophiliac (sic) act, homosexualy, btialy and sex volvg children should not be allowed"[66]. As a token of this rtrictn, to plate pecially relig fundamentalists and ultranservativ, accs to proment straight porn webs such as Playboy and Penthoe was blocked, but gay s, pornographic or otherwise, were left for the most part untouched, to the glee of LGBT surfers.

' The momento words would set the tenor for official policy on homosexualy for many years to e and may be regard as the most signifint event, as far as gay rights are ncerned, of the , if not of the century (see ma article: Lee Kuan Yew's views on homosexualy). All male Sgaporean cizens and non-first generatn permanent rints, cludg homosexual, bisexual and male-at-birth transgenr dividuals, who have reached the age of 18 years are required to enroll for Natnal Service unr the Enlistment Act.

GAY

The way gay and transgenr servicemen are viewed and treated is largely pennt on the views of the ary thori who wre the nfintial manpower directiv which ern the management of the enliste even though the thori are advised by external, non-ary psychiatrists. Discrimatn exists bee even though the SAF do not regard homosexualy as a disease or mental illns requirg unsellg or therapy, is obliged to treat gay servicemen who clare their sexual orientatn differently bee, acrdg to some acunts, "homosexualy" and "transsexualism" are listed the outdated ICD-9 (Internatnal Classifitn of Diseas, 9th revisn), a medil classifitn system which is still beg ed by the SAF today.

It is perplexg why no SAF psychiatrist, psychologist or manpower officer wh cisn-makg thory has seen f to revamp the stat quo bee all ternatnal medil anisatns now regard homosexualy as a normal part of the spectm of human sexualy (see ma article: Internatnal medil thori' posn statements on homosexualy). For example, there are unsubstantiated reports blogs and onle foms that servicemen who profs a homosexual orientatn durg pre- or post-enlistment are reportedly nfed to “non-sensive” uns, but the fn of what nstut a “sensive” un is not spelt out. Currently, is unknown how homosexual women are treated the ary and whether such practic are parable between the genrs; this is bee women are not subject to nscriptn and therefore make up a relatively small proportn of ary personnel.

The self-clared gay rec is then given a stat of PES D (temporarily unf for gradg and ployment, pendg further review) and schled for a medil review by an SAF psychologist, ually an officer wh the rank of pta, at a later date at an office the Psychologil Medice Branch of the Headquarters of Medil Servic (HQMS) at CMPB. This was long overdue as the world's most fluential bible for psychiatric diagnosis, the Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs (DSM), published by the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn had removed homosexualy om s list of mental disorrs 1973 (see ma article: Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs). Prr to the mid-2000s, homosexual soldiers classified unr Category 302 (popularly referred to as "Cat 302" or simply "302") were further subdivid to those "wh effemate behavur" ( var gre) and those "whout effemate behavur" based on the arbrary observatns of the psychologist performg the asssment.

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

This refal to jettison an archaic medil ncept of homosexualy and harbourg of irratnal fears engenrs discrimatn bee the ary's groupg of homosexualy together wh transvtism and paedophilia further rerc the general public's misnceptn that is abnormal. It was only wh the AIDS crisis, the liberalisatn of society spurred by the growth of the Inter, the troductn of ble televisn to Sgapore, the worldwi trend toward human rights and eedom of dividual exprsn, pl the enomic advantag of social diversy regnised by the Government, that gay Sgaporeans have been urageo enough to stand up and be unted for what they tly are. Even as this mistry affirms lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenred (LGBT) people opposn to the stance of the stutnal church, he was nvced this was a mistry he uld not eva, a rponsibily he uld not avoid - to clare Christ’s clive love to those who had been ostracized and neglected for far too long by the Church.

SGAPORE’S LATT RULG ON GAY SEX IS ‘COLD COMFORT,’ ACTIVISTS SAY

He was the first to anise outdoor gay parti the early 1990s at such venu as the East Coast Lagoon and Big Splash, and non-Sunday gay dis nights at var mastream clubs like Dancers - the Club Clarke Quay and at Far East Shoppg Centre. Lim was the first to experiment wh such novel ncepts as a 24- hour sna that never clos, a totally gay rtrant, a transwoman pri march down Ann Siang Road and Club Street, a drag artiste baret-dis, swimmg tnk fashn shows, erotic film screengs, overnight lodggs for gay men, and offerg patrons the optn to buys shar gay enterpris. He was the first to experiment wh such novel ncepts as a 24-hour sna that never clos, a totally gay rtrant, a transwoman pri march down Ann Siang Road and Club Street, a drag artiste baret-dis, performg drag his own revu, swimmg tnk fashn shows, erotic film screengs, overnight lodggs for gay men, and offerg patrons the optn to buys shar gay enterpris.

However, rogatory slang words ially referrg specifilly to transgenr people Sgapore and Malaysia, for example "ah kua" (Hokkien), "bapok", "pondan", "kedik" (Malay), "kidi" (Ta) and "muffat" (Sglish), also me to be ed as slurs on effemate cisgenr men bee for the greater part of the twentieth century, there was nfn as to what the difference between gay and transgenr was. In fact, the revelatory Sgapore's first newspaper articl on the LGBT muny published 1972, even after months of rearch, the vtigative reportg team still lumped homosexual men together wh transgenr women to one large tegory wh three subdivisns.

The term "mak nyah" was ed by the Malaysian male transsexual muny ( 1987 when they tried to set up a society but was nied by the Malaysian Registrar of Societi) as a preferred substute for "pondan" or "bapok" which generally refers to men who are effemate homosexual (and cisgenr) mal. On Monday, 31 March 2008, Mox Bar and Cafe, which had been recently voted as Sgapore's favoure gay bar at the Fridae ae-List Awards[18], closed s doors, wh a garage sale on Thursday, 27 March and a farewell party lled "End of the Rabow" on Saturday, 29 March 2008[19]. The management allowed the anisers of IndigNatn[22], Sgapore's gural gay pri month Augt 2005, ee e of s premis to nduct the historic, first-ever public talk on homosexualy to be held an door venue sce Prime Mister Lee Hsien Loong's 2004 liberalisatn of the l erng the events.