Singapore’s parliament scrapped a colonial-era law that criminalizes gay sex.
A leftover of British colonialism, the colonial-era law banned sex between men, which was punishable by up to two years in jail. There were past attempts to repeal the law in courts; though it was only this summer when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the government’s decriminalization plans.
This is actually a bittersweet development, as it may appear as a step forward for the LGBTQIA people in Singapore, but the government is actually also taking a step back with it. Specifically, with the repeal of the criminalization of gay sex, also introduced is a constitutional amendment that blocks marriage equality by defining marriage to strictly refer to a relationship between a man and a woman.
