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Being gay as well as sex between men are now both legal in Singapore.

Speaking on Sunday during his annual policy address, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the government will finally repeal Section 377A of their Penal Code, a British colonial-era law that criminalizes sex between men. However, Singapore will also prevent same-sex marriages by simultaneously amending its constitution “to protect existing laws barring marriage equality.” Read more here.

Lee said that repealing Section 377A “will bring the law into line with current social mores, and I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans” while amending their constitution aims to “protect the definition of marriage from being challenged constitutionally in the courts.”

Further, he explained, “This will help us repeal S377A in a controlled, carefully considered way. It will limit this change to what I believe most Singaporeans will accept, which is to decriminalize sexual relations between consenting men in private.”

Moreover, he said, “But it will also keep what I believe most Singaporeans still want, and that is to retain the basic family structure of marriage between a man and a woman, within which we have and raise our children.” Read this story in full here.

Way back in 2007, PM Lee spoke about the law, saying it was not being “proactively enforced.” Lee said during his address on Sunday, “It would have been too divisive to force the issue then.”

He added, “Now, 15 years later, attitudes have shifted appreciably. While we remain a broadly conservative society, gay people are now better accepted in Singapore, especially among younger Singaporeans.”

Further, he said, “Private sexual behavior between consenting adults does not raise any law and order issue. There’s no justification to prosecute people for it, nor to make it a crime… The government will repeal Section 377A and decriminalize sex between men.” Read more about this story here.

Meanwhile, Singapore constitutional law expert Suang Wijaya explained, “One reason must be that the government needed to achieve a balance between competing interests.” He added, “They want to be seen as giving something to the LGBT community, but also not give a defeat to the conservatives. They don’t want it be a ‘I win and you lose’ situation as it would result in division.” Read more about it here.

Section 377A states that:

Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years.

Reportedly, the last attempted prosecution for consensual same-sex sexual activity was in 2010. Meanwhile, all nine convictions under 377A provisions between 2007 and 2013 “involved minors or public acts of gross indecency.” Read more here.

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