Singapore veteran calls for change to gay sex ban after India’s landmark victory
Men who sleep with men could be jailed up to two years but the law doesn't apply to lesbians
By Steve Brown
A Singapore veteran diplomat has called for the community to challenge the law banning gay sex after India’s historic victory vote.
Tommy Koh, a diplomat and lawyer, took to Facebook to air his views on India’s recent move to legalise homosexuality and has called for the LGBT community in Singapore to challenge the Section 377A act.
Under this law, a man found to have had “gross indecency” with another man could be jailed for up to two years – although prosecutions are rare – and the law doesn’t apply to lesbians.
Koh wrote: “I would encourage our gay community to bring a class action to challenge the constitutionality of Section 377A.”
Commenters were quick to remind him that previous legal challenges back in 2014 had failed to which he simply replied “try again”.
The Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam told reporters that the majority of the country were opposed to any changes to the law but a growing number wanted 377A to be repealed.
A spokesperson for LGBT rights group PinkDot said they are ready to “keep up with India”.
They said: “We hope that parliament will consider the decriminalisation of S377A.
“We are ready to keep up with India.”