When colonial masters left, Singapore and other ex colonies of Britain still maintained the 377 Penal Code.
The politicians still wanted the silly code to sit in the parliament, wasting time for the debate and going on streets to protest.
If the politicians were not having mental health problem, they should willingly come forward to abolish such meaningless and useless act. There is no use in Singapore, there were few cases in Malaysia. But mostly using the sodomy act instead of 377 Penal Code.
There are many gays and lesbians in Malaysia, you can look at their fingers and you know what he/she is into.
However, they still dare not come out but enjoying life in the lesbian club or gay club in the posh hotels thus the religion authority dares not go into the club to arrest the Muslims.
Why must you lead a double life. Come out to call for the change, you can be living happily.
Corinna Lim, Executive Director of AWARE, comes out as gay
During the Institute of Policy Studies' 35th Anniversary Conference on Monday, 12 June 2023 held at the Sands Grand Ballroom on level 5 of the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Corinna Lim, speaking as Executive Director of AWARE, revealed to the audience and the media that she was a gay woman. Her remarks were made in a personal capacity and she was applauded by the organisation she represented for taking the brave step of coming out in public. She was part of the 3-member panel in a discussion topic entitled "Revisiting pluralism" which commenced at 2pm and was moderated by Prof Chan Heng Chee from the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, Singapore University of Technology and Design. The other two panelists were K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, and Zuraidah Ibrahim, Executive Managing Editor of the South China Morning Post. Transcript with additional edits for clarity: "Good afternoon, Minister Shanmugam, Professor Chan, everyone. I am grateful for this chance to speak on a topic that is close to my heart. I speak from the vantage point of someone who is both privileged and marginalised, and as someone who has worked in the social justice space for more than 30 years. You can read about my privileged position in my profile. My marginalisation is my experience as a gay person in Singapore — covering up my sexuality from my family, colleagues and, until now, the public sphere. When I was younger, there were no acceptable words to speak about this. The term LGBT only made it into the Singapore lexicon in the 2000s. Being a stigmatised minority is difficult, and even more so when this marginalisation is hidden and invisible. It is no fun in the closet. In fact, it is pretty painful and lonely. So, as a young lawyer, my main aim was to migrate to a more gay-friendly country, with lots of nature. That was 30 years ago. Thankfully, I found the women’s cause—or it found me. And I am still here. My work as a gender equality activist has been an important part of my identity. If I could not speak up for myself safely, I could do so for the women who had it a lot worse than me. The women who were victims of family violence, sexual assault, workplace discrimination and harassment. Why now? This is the first time that I am sharing about my own personal situation in a public setting. I think it is partly to do with the repeal of Section 377A. It somehow seems it is safer to talk about this. If we are to take the “pluralism” journey forward in Singapore, it’s important to create brave spaces for the marginalised to share their experiences. Only then can we start talking more deeply and sensitively about these topics without causing antagonism and polarisation. And so I chose to speak about this today, even though it is still a bit scary, to ground this discussion in the lived experiences of a marginalised person, and to emphasise why it is so important for Singapore to get this right. First, we want people in Singapore to feel like this is their home, where they can be fully appreciated and accepted for who they are. A place where they can show up fully at work or in the community and where they do not have to hide or be ashamed of any aspect of themselves. I know of too many LGBT persons who left Singapore as they did not feel that they could thrive here. I came close to being part of that statistic of people who left, but I’m glad I stayed. The pace of change in Singapore The recent repeal of Section 377A shows that Singapore is constantly evolving. Change always feels too slow for any activist; by definition, we cannot be satisfied with the status quo. But in the past 30 years, I have seen changes in almost all areas of work that AWARE is involved in: housing for single parents; protection against workplace harassment; the recent changes to the Women’s Charter strengthening protection against non-physical violence; the White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development affirming gender equality as a top national priority; the forthcoming Workplace Fairness Act. All these changes are of critical importance to the lives of single mothers, LGBT persons and people experiencing abuse and violence, workplace harassment and discrimination. In Singapore, change is sometimes too gradual. It took a long time for the Government to repeal Section 377A. But once it did, the Government did a fantastic job in consulting the various stakeholders and doing a “national mediation” on this issue. I know from my friends in the LGBT community that they have had many discussions with policy-makers. Minister Shanmugam said that pluralism is essentially about social cohesion. I see pluralism as being about embracing diversity and promoting equal, active participation in society. There must be a welcoming of different views and perspectives.
Comments
Post a Comment