Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke earlier this evening 21 August during his National Day Rally speech at the Institute of Technical Education Headquarters at Ang Mo Kio.
PM Lee announced during his speech that Section 377A of the Penal Code, which criminalises intercourse between men, will be repealed.
He added that however, the Government will continue to keep Singapore’s policies on family and marriages unchanged.
LGBTQ+ community better accepted now
PM Lee added that the LGBTQ+ community is better accepted in Singapore, especially among younger Singaporeans, even though we remain a conservative society.
He said that it is “timely to ask ourselves again the fundamental question” which is if intercourse between men in private should be a criminal offence.
He then concluded that a person’s gender preferences and orientation are a private and personal matter, and that intercourse between men should not be a criminal offence.
Marriages will be safeguarded and upheld
However, with that being said, PM Lee added that the government will uphold and safeguard the institution of marriage, where under the law, only marriages between a man and a woman are recognised in Singapore.
By and large, Singapore is a traditional society, with conservative social values.
We believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, children should be born and raised within such families and that traditional family should form the basic building block of our society.
The government also has no intention of changing the definition of marriages, including the policies that rely upon the definitions, such as public housing, education, adoption, advertising and etcetera.
Need to stay united
Regardless of anybody’s views on Section 377A, PM Lee said that everyone has to accept that they can’t get everything because it is “simply not possible.
He emphasised the need for Singaporeans to “stay united as one people” as well as “maintain the mutual respect and trust that we have painstakingly built over the years.”