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Content about Singapore

May 9, 2013

Faith Community Baptist Church pastor Lawrence Khong says that the devil is behind LGBT people asking for rights

A Singaporean pastor has delivered a sermon titled God's Pattern for Marriage in front of 3,000 people in which he called the LGBT movement 'diabolical'.

'I believe that God has awakened to face one of the greatest attacks on the family by the evil one,' said Lawrence Khong.

Khong also called the LGBT rights movement the 'onslaught of the evil one'.

May 8, 2013

Gay Star News talks to Miyuki Baker about her world travels in search of queer artists and activists

What are the queer communities like in South America compared to Australia? Singapore compared to India? South Korea to Turkey? Recent college graduate Miyuki Baker is finding out by traveling the world in search of queer artists and activists, like herself.

After graduating from Pennsylvania-based liberal arts college Swarthmore, Baker won a $25,000 (US dollars, €19,000) Watson Fellowship that allows her to travel the world pursuing a particular project.

May 7, 2013

High school kid speaks directly to bullies in a YouTube video that shows maturity and intelligence

A 12-year-old boy in Singapore has made an articulate response to bullies who have been calling him gay slurs over the past few months, online and in school.

Theo Chen, who likes making fun music videos and posting on YouTube, directly addressed the bullies in a video, telling them 'think about what you're saying'.

To answer gossip from his 'friends' about whether he is gay or not, Chen says:

May 2, 2013

Yale University and companies with headquarters in Singapore should condemn judge's upholding of anti-gay law, says Human Rights Watch speaking exclusively to Gay Star News

Human Rights Watch has vigorously condemned last month's decision by Justice Quentin Loh in Singapore's High Court to uphold a law criminalizing consensual gay sex.

'I was stunned because I thought that this was a very clear breach of equality before the law,' said deputy director Asia of Human Rights Watch, Phil Robertson, speaking exclusively to Gay Star News.

April 18, 2013

Campaign aims to raise $50,000 to challenge judge's ruling that anti-gay law should remain

A group of LGBT rights activists in Singapore has launched a fundraising campaign to mount an appeal against a recent court decision to kept anti-gay law Section 377A which criminalizes sex between men.

Gay couple Gary Lim and Kenneth Chee launched a constitutional challenge against Section 377A. Their lawyer argued that the law challenges Singapore's constitution which says all citizens must be treated equally before the law.

April 11, 2013

Gary Lim and Kenneth Chee say it is 'disheartening' that judge ruled to retain law which criminalizes gay sex between men in Singapore

A gay couple in Singapore who took their government to court over a law that criminalizes sex between men have said the High Court judge's decision to uphold the ban is 'disheartening'.

'We are disappointed that the High Court ruled against us and upheld s377A,' said Gary Lim and Kenneth Chee in a statement.

'Having been together for 15 years, it is disheartening that we are criminals in the eyes of the law because of a segment of society that will not live and let live, but insist on pushing their version of religion and morality on us.'

April 11, 2013

Gary Lim and Kenneth Chee say it is 'disheartening' that judge ruled to retain law which criminalizes gay sex between men in Singapore

A gay couple in Singapore who took their government to court over a law that criminalizes sex between men have said the High Court judge's decision to uphold the ban is 'disheartening'.

'We are disappointed that the High Court ruled against us and upheld s377A,' said Gary Lim and Kenneth Chee in a statement.

'Having been together for 15 years, it is disheartening that we are criminals in the eyes of the law because of a segment of society that will not live and let live, but insist on pushing their version of religion and morality on us.'

April 9, 2013

The case against Section 377A in Singapore’s High Court fails as Justice Quentin Loh says the anti-gay sex law is a ‘social norm’

Singapore’s High Court has dismissed a case by gay partners Gary Lim and Kenneth Chee designed to scrap the law which bans gay male sex.

LGBT people in Singapore have already said they will appeal the case to the Court of Appeal.

April 3, 2013

Despite gay sex still being illegal in Singapore, a magazine strap-lined 'the voice of gay Asia' is launching in the city-state this month

Gay Asia is getting it's first 'proper high-fashion lifestyle publication' according to its founder, Hirokazu Mizuhara, speaking to Campaign Asia-Pacific.

Element launches this month, published online only to bypass Singapore's censorship laws.

March 28, 2013

LGBT youth in Singapore meet Cason Crane before he heads to Everest, his sixth mountian

Twenty-year-old American Cason Crane, who has climbed five of the world's highs mountains to raise money for LGBT youth suicide prevention, is in Singapore tomorrow.

Crane will meet with young LGBT people under 25 at an event organized by Young Out Here.

March 7, 2013

The fifth celebration of LGBT people's 'freedom to love' in Singapore will be on Saturday 29 June

Speaker's Corner at Hong Lim Park in Singapore will once again turn a rosy hue for Pink Dot, which will be on Saturday 29 June this year.

Like last year, those who believe that everyone should have the 'freedom to love' with gather at dusk with pink lights to form a dot showing there is support for LGBT rights in socially conservative Singapore.

March 7, 2013

The fifth celebration of LGBT people's 'freedom to love' in Singapore will be on Saturday 29 June

Speaker's Corner at Hong Lim Park in Singapore will once again turn a rosy hue for Pink Dot, which will be on Saturday 29 June this year.

Like last year, those who believe that everyone should have the 'freedom to love' with gather at dusk with pink lights to form a dot showing there is support for LGBT rights in socially conservative Singapore.

March 7, 2013

Human rights lawyer says Singapore's Section 377A which criminalizes gay sex is 'inherently absurd, arbitrary, vague and discriminatory'

A case challenging constitutionality of anti-gay sex law was heard in the High Court in Singapore yesterday morning.

Human rights lawyer M Ravi went head-to-head with Aedit Abdullah, a lawyer from Singapore's Attorney-General's Chambers, the government's legal advisors.

The case, Tan Eng Hong v. Attorney-General, began in 2010 when Tan was charged for having sex with a man in a public toilet under Section 377A, the law which criminalizes sex between men.

After several court cases, the constitutional validity of the law is being challenged.

February 27, 2013

A Facebook page for Singapore's gay men to anonymously post their confessions has received over 500 posts in two weeks

A Facebook page that allows Singapore's gay community to make anonymous confessions has proved highly popular - over 500 confessions were posted in the first two weeks.

The team behind Gay SG Confessions originally planned the page to be frivolous and gossipy, but instead they have received heart-felt pieces of writing about family estrangement and secret loves that have been kept hidden for decades.

February 18, 2013

In a meeting with religious leaders, Singapore’s law minister, said the city-state’s anti-gay sex law will not be repealed nor will it be enforced

Singapore will not repeal the anti-sodomy laws that criminalizes gay sex, affirmed Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam, Singapore’s law minister, to an influential Christian group.

According to the reports from LoveSingapore’s Facebook page, a group network of 100 churches, the minister attended a meeting with its leaders to discuss LGBT rights today (18 February).

February 14, 2013

Singapore's High Court held its first hearing of Gary Lim and Kenneth Chee's case that seeks to repeal the country's anti-sodomy law 

A gay couple in Singapore seeking to abolish a long-standing law banning gay sex had their case heard in court today.

The court case was heard just days after a former department store manager sued his boss for alleged discrimination against gays.

The two cases highlight how members of Singapore's LGBT community have become increasingly vocal, demanding changes in the city-state's attitudes toward homosexuality by speaking out against discrimination and raising legal cases to challenge the law.

February 12, 2013

First case of homophobic harassment at work filed at High Court in Singapore against department store Robinsons

A gay man in Singapore is suing his former employer for alleged homophobic harassment over six years.

Lawrence Bernard Wee Kim San worked for department store Robinsons as a senior manager and says his former boss Jim McCallum victimized him with 'unrelenting and unceasing persecution' due to his sexuality.

Wee filed papers at the High Court in December. It is the first case of its kind in Singapore, AsiaOne reports.

January 30, 2013

Despite a legal challenge to Section 377A, the law that criminalizes gay sex in Singapore, prime minister indicates law will remain 

Singapore's prime minister Lee has indicated that he does not believe Section 377A, the law that criminalizes gay sex, should be repealed.

A delegate at the Institute of Policy Studies' Singapore Perspectives conference yesterday asked why a secular country like Singapore has 'an old and archaic law that nearly discriminates against a whole [group] of people'.

January 30, 2013

Taiwanese singer promotes gay rights at concert at Singapore Indoor Stadium

Taiwanese popstar A-mei showed her support for gay rights at a concert in Singapore last Saturday 26 January.

The singer, who has been recording music since 1996 and is extremely popular in the Mandarin-speaking world, waved a rainbow flag and said love all around whether it's man-man, woman-woman or man-woman.

While A-mei sang her song Cai Hong (meaning rainbow) a camera zoomed in on couples in the crowd, showing them on a big screen on stage. When the camera focused on gay couple there were loud cheers from the audience.

January 23, 2013

Attorney-General warns of risk of prejudice to court cases if heated public debate continues

Christian pastors in Singapore are showing that they are not going to allow an anti-gay law to be repealed without a fight.

Pastor Yang Tuck Yoong of Cornerstone Community Church told Straits Times that church leaders have met several times over the last month to discuss a collective response to the court case currently challenging Singapore's Section 377A, the colonial era law that criminalizes gay sex

January 21, 2013

Gay priest counters pastor's anti-gay statements and invites him to 'a dialogue... so we can work together to build a better Singapore'

Rev Miak Siew from the inclusive Free Community Church in Singapore has responded to 'megachurch' pastor Lawrence Khong's comments that attempts to repeal an anti-gay law is a 'looming threat'.

Rev Siew wrote a piece for LGBT Asia website Fridae arguing that the bible doesn't value the 'traditional family' above all else.

January 15, 2013

Following a Facebook exchange, Singapore's law minister K Shanmugam meets with lesbian activists

Singaporean activist Jean Chong recently met with the law minister K Shanmugam to talk about LGBT rights in the city-state where homosexual sex is still criminalized.

Chong first contacted Shanmugam via his Facebook page last October, out of frustration 'about the state of institutionalized discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons in Singapore,' Chong writes on LGBT Asia website Fridae.

January 9, 2013

GSN is already in training for a trip down under to Darwin for a major multi-sport tournament

For serious athletes like ourselves, it’s always important to have clear goals and objectives, to know exactly what you need to train for, and when you need to be at your peak.

The Asia Out Games that will be held in Darwin in 2014 seems far enough away that our gold medal aspirations seem almost achievable.

We spoke with Olli Berst, chairperson of Darwin 2014, to find out what competitors can look forward to at the Asia Out Games.

January 9, 2013

Gay Star News interviews leading lesbian rights activist in Singapore, Jean Chong

The LGBT rights movement in Singapore has been mainly dominated by gay men, but Gay Star News met Jean Chong of lesbian group Sayoni and discovered that sisters are doing it for themselves.

Did you have any role models when you were growing up as a lesbian in Singapore?

No, I always wished there were lesbian role models when I was growing up. There were so much confusion, silence and questions.