Singapore: The Court of Appeal have dismissed an appeal by three gay men who were arguing that the country’s laws banning homosexuality were unconstitutional.

The court handed down it’s decision on Monday, in relation to a 2020 case, upholding the laws which have their origin in British colonial law.

Section 377A of the country’s Penal Code criminalises same-sex relations between men. The law was introduced in the 1930’s when Singapore was ruled by Britain and echoes similar laws left by the British around the world.

It was being challenged in terms of its constitutionality and redundancy, as the law is rarely and arbitrarily applied, in three separate cases, by plaintiffs Johnson Ong Ming, Roy Tan Seng Kee, and Bryan Choong Chee Hoong.

All three challenges were dismissed in by Justice See Kee Oon who highlighted that section 377A does not violate the constitution and  “continues to serve its purpose of safeguarding public morality by showing societal moral disapproval of male homosexual acts ”.

The trip took their cases to the Court of Appeals but they have upheld the earlier decision, ruling the law is not inconsistent with the country’s constitution.

The panel of judges did however suggest that the issues may be better resolved by politicians than courts.

“Politics seems the more obvious choice than litigation for debating and resolving highly contentious societal issues. At the heart of politics lies the project of democratic engagement, as politicians aim to persuade voters by appealing to hearts and minds.” the judges said.

“While we understand the deeply-held personal feelings of the appellants, there is nothing that this court can do to assist them. Their remedy lies, if at all, in the legislative sphere.”

The judgement also ruled that the law, while legal and remaining on the countries law books, was also not enforced.

“The merits of retaining s 377A were subject to robust and lengthy debate in Parliament in 2007, culminating in a uniquely Singaporean resolution: a political compromise in which s 377A would be retained because it was thought to bear important symbolic weight for the conservative mainstream in Singapore. Exceptionally, this was on the basis that s 377A would not be proactively enforced, so as to accommodate our homosexual kith and kin. ” the judges noted.

Local advocates have vowed to continue their fight to have the law removed.

Téa Braun, Chief Executive of the Human Dignity Trust, said it was now time for the Singaporean government to take action.  The Human Dignity Trust works with LGBT activists around the world to defend human rights in countries where private consensual sexual activity between people of the same sex is criminalised.

“Even though the threat of arrest has been removed and this has been formalised by the Court, in declining to completely strike out the law criminalising same-sex intimacy, gay men in Singapore are still effectively un-apprehended criminals and subject to a culture of shame and homophobia

The Court of Appeal is the apex court in Singapore, meaning the judgment is final and the last chance for LGBT activists and their lawyers to strike down Section 377A through the court system. Hope for reform will now be directed at the country’s parliament.

“Now that the fight is over in the courts, the Singapore government must now match the great strides made recently in modernising sexual offences legislation by reforming the criminal law that discriminates against LGBT people,’ added Braun. ‘Laws which in 1938 were meant to express society’s views about sex acts between men have no place in a 21st century global financial hub such as Singapore.” Braun said.

OIP Staff

An earlier version of this report included a quote from Mr. Jonathon Cooper, the former Chief Executive of the Human Dignity Trust. This quote was included in the report in error and related to an earlier case.

OUTinPerth understands that Mr. Cooper has subsequently passed away and our accidental inclusion of his quote caused upset and distress to his colleagues and family.  We sincerely apologise for this error and will take steps to fully investigate how the mistake occurred. 

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