A fresh bid to overturn a Singapore law banning gay sex failed on Monday (March 30) as a court dismissed several challenges, a setback for efforts to promote greater LGBT rights in South-East Asian region and also Asia in the greater picture.
Inherited from the British colonial era, the law is rarely enforced but campaigners say it nevertheless jars with the affluent city-state’s increasingly modern and vibrant culture.
Others, however, argue that Singapore remains at heart conservative and is not ready for change, while officials also believe most would not be in favour of repealing the legislation.
The latest attempt to overturn the law was spearheaded by three people — a retired doctor, a DJ and an LGBT rights advocate — who lodged court challenges seeking to prove the law is unconstitutional.
But the High Court dismissed all three after hearing them together behind closed doors, ruling the law does not violate articles of the constitution regarding equality and…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
