LGBTIQ+ Singaporean-Australians say they can breathe a sigh of relief after the city-state's government announced it will decriminalise sex between men.
Benjamin Oh, national convenor of Asian Australian Rainbow Alliance, said the move was welcome news for all members of the LGBTIQ+ community, irrespective if they identified as male or not.
"People were hungry for this language that we are we are just fellow human beings needing to be treated with equal dignity and respect, and not be criminalised for loving who we love regardless of gender."Source:Mr Oh, a gay man with family in Singapore and Malaysia, said it is not enough for LGBTIQ+ people to simply feel safe in their country. Rather, it was time that they have the agency to "fully flourish" as human beings.
Born and raised in Singapore in a Muslim household, Nurul longed as a child to enjoy the "simple things" in relationships, like holding her partner's hand during a car drive. Under section 377A, offenders can be jailed for up to two years under the law, but it was not actively enforced. There have been no known convictions for sex between consenting adult males for decades and the law does not include sex between women or other genders.
It has a predominantly ethnic Chinese population with sizeable Malay and Indian minorities, according to the 2020 census.