MM Lee Kuan Yew raises question on ban on sex between men

Apr 23, 2007
Reuters

SINGAPORE, April 23 (Reuters) - Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, acknowledging the view that some people are genetically destined to be homosexual, has questioned the city-state's ban on sex between men.

"If in fact it is true, and I have asked doctors this, that you are genetically born a homosexual -- because that's the nature of the genetic random transmission of genes -- you can't help it. So why should we criminalise it?" he ws quoted by The Straits Times today as saying at a dialogue with 400 Young People's Action Pary members on Saturday.

Under Singapore law, a man who is found to have committed an act of "gross indecency" with another man can be jailed for up to two years, though prosecutions are rare.

But MM Lee said Singapore should not actively pursue homosexuals who engage in sex.

While homosexuality was not widely accepted in Singapore, he said authorities must take a pragmatic approach.

"Let's not go around like this moral police ... barging into people's rooms. That's not our business," he said. "So you have to take a practical, pragmatic approach to what I see is an inevitable force of time and circumstances."

In November, the Ministry of Home Affairs said it was considering decriminalising oral and anal sex between consenting heterosexual adults, but not between homosexuals.

The authorities have banned gay festivals and censored gay films, saying homosexuality should not be advocated as a lifestyle. But, despite the official ban on gay sex, Singapore has a thriving gay scene.

Lee's comments come at a time when many groups, such as Singapore's Law Society, are clamouring for a review of the laws against homosexual sex, which they view as outdated and archaic.

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