Ok. Old issue, new entry. I need to talk about 377A, again, I'm afraid.
To the ignorant, Section 377A "Outrages on decency" of the Penal Code states:
Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years.
I dont mean to be so much of an activist, as I normally steer clear of politics, but this time, I guess the rights of my friends are being infringed upon and I dont think that's very fair. My words are weak, I dont have an amazing vocabulary, and my grammatical errors are rampant. My heart speaks to you, my readers, and I hope you will pass the word. I dont mean to preach, I just want people to realise, and take a stand, because we need all the support that we may potentially have.
As most of you possibly know, the last parliamentary debate in September ended in tears and anger for the queer community. Because apparently the "majority" has spoken and they were completely against the idea of people having anal sex behind closed doors.
[Side note: anal and oral sex between a consenting male and female conducting privately has been made legal.]
Yesterday, the second parliamentary debate was held. Two NMPs took the extreme stands towards 377A. The video can be found here:
http://www.straitstimes.com/Video+News/Singapore/STIVodcast_2881.html?playid=2881&type=Singapore
NMP Thio's tone of disgust angered me. And that's all I'm gonna say. I'll leave it up to you guys to make your own judgements, and hopefully spread the word. I think now is not the time to lie on your couch and pretend that nothing is happening. Every effort counts. Every effort to let our nation realise that gay people are not monsters/freaks. Every effort to let our nation realise that gay people are everywhere, in the trains that we take, in the shopping centres we frequent, and on the tv we watch. Are they truly that repulsive?
I'm intending to sell tshirts. Something along the lines of "repeal 377a", "its not just a gay thing, its about equality". And perhaps print the pledge by the back of the shirt.
We the citizens of singapore
Pledge ourselves as one united people
Regardless of race, language, or religion
To build a democratic society
Based on justice and equality
So as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our people.
I'm hoping to take a soft approach for this issue. Cos as we all should have realised, all these debating only served to stir up negative reactions from both parties. [Some of you might have realised that as the online petiton www.repeal377a.com was put up, other online peitions such as keep377a.com, retain377a.com, pro377a.blogspot.com started to sprout.] This shirt will be free, although donations will be greatly appreciated. People who would like to help out in this process, do get back to me, cos, as you ALL should know, I'm not in Singapore.
I will leave you guys with the video, spread it as you wish.
To the ignorant, Section 377A "Outrages on decency" of the Penal Code states:
Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years.
I dont mean to be so much of an activist, as I normally steer clear of politics, but this time, I guess the rights of my friends are being infringed upon and I dont think that's very fair. My words are weak, I dont have an amazing vocabulary, and my grammatical errors are rampant. My heart speaks to you, my readers, and I hope you will pass the word. I dont mean to preach, I just want people to realise, and take a stand, because we need all the support that we may potentially have.
As most of you possibly know, the last parliamentary debate in September ended in tears and anger for the queer community. Because apparently the "majority" has spoken and they were completely against the idea of people having anal sex behind closed doors.
[Side note: anal and oral sex between a consenting male and female conducting privately has been made legal.]
Yesterday, the second parliamentary debate was held. Two NMPs took the extreme stands towards 377A. The video can be found here:
http://www.straitstimes.com/Video+News/Singapore/STIVodcast_2881.html?playid=2881&type=Singapore
NMP Thio's tone of disgust angered me. And that's all I'm gonna say. I'll leave it up to you guys to make your own judgements, and hopefully spread the word. I think now is not the time to lie on your couch and pretend that nothing is happening. Every effort counts. Every effort to let our nation realise that gay people are not monsters/freaks. Every effort to let our nation realise that gay people are everywhere, in the trains that we take, in the shopping centres we frequent, and on the tv we watch. Are they truly that repulsive?
I'm intending to sell tshirts. Something along the lines of "repeal 377a", "its not just a gay thing, its about equality". And perhaps print the pledge by the back of the shirt.
We the citizens of singapore
Pledge ourselves as one united people
Regardless of race, language, or religion
To build a democratic society
Based on justice and equality
So as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our people.
I'm hoping to take a soft approach for this issue. Cos as we all should have realised, all these debating only served to stir up negative reactions from both parties. [Some of you might have realised that as the online petiton www.repeal377a.com was put up, other online peitions such as keep377a.com, retain377a.com, pro377a.blogspot.com started to sprout.] This shirt will be free, although donations will be greatly appreciated. People who would like to help out in this process, do get back to me, cos, as you ALL should know, I'm not in Singapore.
I will leave you guys with the video, spread it as you wish.