SINGAPORE - Singapore's parliament decriminalised sex between men on Tuesday, but amended the constitution to effectively block full marriage equality.
Roy Tan, a medical doctor who had once unsuccessfully challenged the law in court, said he felt "grateful and privileged to have witnessed the endpoint in our 12-year-long struggle to strike down" the law. "One less reason for me to hide my true self, because of some archaic law. But this is just the first step to remove the social and religious stigma that has been upon the community because of outdated beliefs, and media censorship."But parliament also passed a constitutional amendment bolstering the existing definition of marriage as between a man and a woman, essentially closing the door on future legal challenges that could establish equal marital rights for LGBTQ people.
If the definition of marriage is altered, it would endanger all government policies based on the traditional structure such as those on housing and healthcare, he said. "Religious leaders or any licensed solemniser for that matter cannot solemnise a same-sex couple. This is against the law," he said, while conceding that parliament could revise the law as social attitudes change.
Here comes the monkey pox