Singapore decriminalizes gay sex but also prevents marriage equality from becoming law

Singapore’s annual Pink Dot LGBTQ event
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Singapore’s parliament decriminalized same-sex sexual intercourse on Tuesday, but it also amended the nation’s constitution to prevent court challenges to legalize same-sex marriage.

The parliament repealed Section 377A of its criminal code. The 1938 law, introduced while Singapore was under British control, outlawed “unnatural… carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” including “penetration.” Singapore’s law punished the act with up to two years in jail, though similar laws remain active in 67 other former British colonies.

The broadly worded law was historically used to prosecute same-sex couples. However, in 2007, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the law would no longer be enforced. It remained on the books however, The Straits Times reported.

Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said on Tuesday that repealing the law was…

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