Gahmen Says No. As usual

It is being discussed in every Singaporean gay forum, website and blogs, and probably other places I haven’t heard of: the LHL has proclaimed publicly that gay parades will not be allowed perhaps in the next 20 years.

Of course, LHL, gay people are like “you and me”. So why in the world are we still criminalised for loving our partners? This law is at its best, antiquated. Even the source of that law, the British Penal Code, has been revised in its homeland. So why are you still holding on to that outmoded law, which prevents even straight people from having anything other than vaginal intercourse? Perhaps the government is conspiring to increase the birth rate by outlawing anything other than procreative sex. Blowjobs don’t get anyone pregnant, you see.

If you are going to tell me that majority of Singaporeans are conservative, blah blah blah, tell me what YOU have done to rectify that. The MOE syllabus remains staunchly homophobic, so is it any wonder students grow up that way? Let me put this question to the gahmen: if the situation was such that a majority race didn’t approve of a minority race, and thought that allowing them to get married was wrong, would you still hold on to this policy? Singapore, after all, prides itself as a multi-racial nation – and such a state requires that the needs of the minority be met too. True enough, the minority races are allowed their own spaces, festivals etc, even if the majority may not like it, or disapprove of it. The Christians and Muslims think each other as infidels – but are we marginalising the Muslims because the Christians are the majority compared to them? Are we stopping Muslims from celebrating Ramadan, though the Christians think it is pagan? So why this double standard concerning gay people, when everyday, we are told in school to be tolerant of diversity? How do we, in any way, intrude upon the rights of straight people?

What really bothers me about LHL’s line of argument is how another issue polarised the nation the same way, but the government went ahead and legalised it anyway. Yes, I AM talking about the casino issue. Polls show that majority of Singaporeans were against it, if by a small margin, who were concerned about the moral degradation such an installation would bring. But once again, the gahmen demonstrated its extraordinary ability to twist issues the way they wanted, and assured the public that would not be the case. So, LHL, legalising gay sex acts/marriage would lead to moral degradation, and casinos wouldn’t. Yeah, okay. But what does that matter, when casinos can bring in billions of dollars in revenue, and gay people wouldn’t?

I rest my case.

Links:
PLU3's rebuttal
Singabloodypore
Straits Times article... wait, STI requires subscription. Sorry ah. No link, can?

Singapore, gay rights, casino