Government will, however, look to bolster rules preventing same-sex marriages by amending the nation’s constitution
A woman wrapped in the rainbow flag is seen at the Pink Dot rally, Singapore's annual gay pride rally, at a park in Singapore on July 1 2017. Picture: REUTERS/DARREN WHITESIDE
While the long-awaited change was welcomed by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, Lee said the city-state would alter the constitution to protect the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, in a compromise with conservative and religious groups. Any change to Singapore’s family-centric policies or its definition of marriage “will not happen under the watch of the current prime minister,” Wong, who’s slated to become the next prime minister, said in the interview. He added, “and it will not happen under my watch if ... PAP were to win the next General Election,” referring to the ruling People’s Action Party.
Scott Beaumont, president of Google Asia Pacific, said he was pleased to see the repeal of the law. “We want to create an environment internally where everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed and thrive, and we’re always glad to see examples where that’s furthered externally,” he said. “The provision is more to reduce the likelihood of any constitutional challenge succeeding and for such issues to be decided through the political process,” said Eugene Tan, a political analyst and law professor at Singapore Management University. “The issue remains sensitive and potent.”
While Singapore is among 69 countries that still criminalise sex between men, other nations in Asia have been slowly moving to reduce rules that discriminate against the LGBTQ community. India’s top court legalised sex between men in 2018 and Thailand this year moved towards allowing same-sex marriages. Taiwan is the only Asian jurisdiction that legally recognises such unions.