Singapore LGBTQ+ citizens find few clear allies on election slate

To activists, candidates' silence on anti-gay law speaks volumes

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A participant in last year's annual Pink Dot rally: This year's event was held online due to COVID-19 and drew pushback from social conservatives. © Reuters

KATERINA ANG, Contributing writer

SINGAPORE -- Singaporeans will elect a new parliament on July 10 and Pride Month has just ended, but politicians have been virtually silent on an issue of profound importance to the city-state's LGBTQ+ community and its allies -- Section 377A of the penal code.

The High Court disappointed the community in March when it dismissed challenges to the colonial-era law, which bans male homosexual intercourse, ruling that it was for lawmakers and not the judiciary to determine issues of public morality. Now, activists note that neither the governing People's Action Party nor the major opposition parties mention the matter in their manifestos.

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