In Singapore, gay sex is still illegal as judge throws out Section 377A challenges

The island nation’s top court has ruled that the colonial-era law criminalising sex between men is constitutional and will be retained

Singapore is one of the few former British colonies still clinging to the legislation, with the likes of India having repealed it in 2018

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The words “Repeal 377A”, referencing a law that criminalises sexual acts between men, are formed by the crowd during the Pink Dot event held at Speaker's Corner in Hong Lim Park, Singapore, in June 2019. Photo: EPA

Published: 5:00pm, 30 Mar 2020Updated: 11:15pm, 30 Mar 2020

Singapore’s High Court on Monday ruled that its colonial-era law criminalising sex between men was constitutional and would be retained, overturning a bid by three gay rights activists to scrap it.

Singapore remains one of the few former British colonies still clinging to Section 377A of the Penal Code, which came into force in 1938 after being adapted from a 19th-century Indian penal code. India did away with the legislation in October 2018.

One of the three activists, Bryan Choong, the former executive director of LGBTI non-profit organisation Oogachaga, had brought to light declassified British government archives that he said showed the law was meant to target rampant male prostitution during British colonial rule rather than to criminalise all consensual sex between men.

The other plaintiffs – disc jockey and producer Johnson Ong Ming and retired general practitioner Roy Tan – said Section 377A was discriminatory by citing scientific evidence that homosexuals cannot wilfully change their sexual orientation or attraction, and argued that the enforcement of the law was arbitrary and inconsistent.

Lawyer M. Ravi, who represents Tan, told reporters outside the chambers that the judgment was “utterly shocking and astounding to the conscience”, adding that the court had upheld the same position as it had in previous cases.

He added that there was an “international momentum of striking out this archaic legislation”, with most commonwealth countries already doing so.

“Members of the gay community who don’t have a control over their sexuality … are going to be criminalised,” Ravi said, adding that his team would study the prospects of appealing the decision.