Section 377 of the Singapore Penal Code
Encyclopedia
Section 377A of the Penal Code of Singapore is the main remaining piece of legislation which criminalises sex between mutually consenting adult men.
Section 377A ("Outrages on decency") states that:
The Singapore Penal Code, Chapter XVI (Offences Affecting the Human Body), Section 377 (Cap. 224) stated that:
"Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animals, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanation. Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section."
An exhaustive analysis of the origin of British laws which sought to prohibit buggery and their evolution into Section 377 is found in an academic paper by Prof. Douglas Saunders
(see the main article and archive of the paper, "377 and the unnatural afterlife of British colonialism").
In summary, British anti-buggery law was enacted in 1534, taking over from ecclesiastical law. The wording used, which included "abominable" (taken from the book of Leviticus
in the Old Testament
), in addition to "buggery" (which, by the 13th century, had become associated with sodomy) and "vice", confirms its religious character. It was formulated in the context of Henry VIII's engineered break from papal authority to establish the Anglican church, and aimed to justify the seizure of the Catholic
monasteries and the confiscation of their other rich properties. The pretext was the alleged sexual immorality of those in the religious vocation. Without this anti-Catholic
agenda, it seems unlikely that it would have been enacted.http://www.sgwiki.com/wiki/377_and_the_unnatural_afterlife_of_British_colonialism#Overview
Codification of law, particularly criminal law
, became a major reform project in Britain in the 19th century, pushed by Jeremy Bentham
and the utilitarians. Codes were well-suited to British colonialism, providing a single, orderly written version of areas of law - easy to enact for a colony.
's largest dependency. Lord Thomas Macaulay was appointed president of that commission. He drafted the Indian Penal Code
, with the help of many experienced lawyers, to replace Hindu criminal law which had hitherto held sway in the greater part of India
. It was incorporated by the British colonial administration in the late 1850s.
Macaulay's draft included a Section 377, a statute based on English criminal law which sought to prohibit "buggery" or sodomy
, largely taken to mean anal sex between men. Under Hindu law
, consensual intercourse between members of the same sex was never an offence. In the new Indian Penal Code
, however, Section 377 criminalised "carnal intercourse against the order of nature". The latter phrase was a new legal concoction, not previously found in British law. It was derived from words attributed to Sir William Blackstone
. Harsh penalties were specified for these activities. It is of interest to note that Lord Macaulay never married and his closest companion was his sister Hannah.http://www.nndb.com/people/422/000096134/
Section 377 became effective as part of the British-imposed Indian Penal Code
from January 1, 1862, and was adopted by the colonial masters, also as Section 377 into the Straits Settlements Penal Code in 1871. The cloned and transplanted law came into operation in the Straits Settlements
of Singapore
, Penang
and Malacca
on September 16, 1872.
Similarly worded legislation, also under the same numbered section of each country's penal code, i.e. 377, was introduced by the British into their other Asia
n colonies such as India
, Pakistan
, Hong Kong
, Malaya
(now Malaysia), Brunei
and Burma (now Myanmar
) in the late 19th century
as if it were a trademark.
Sri Lanka
, the Seychelles
and Papua New Guinea
have the key wording
from 377, but different article numbers. Parallel wording appears in the criminal laws of
many of the former colonies in Africa
.http://www.sgwiki.com/wiki/377_and_the_unnatural_afterlife_of_British_colonialism#Introduction
Section 377A (Outrages on decency) was added to the sub-title "Unnatural offences" in the Straits Settlements
in 1938. Both Sections were absorbed unchanged into the Singapore Penal Code when the latter was passed by Singapore's Legislative Council
on January 28, 1955.
was not defined in the Indian Penal Code drafted by the British. Legal records show that Indian legislators in the 19th and early 20th centuries interpreted "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" between individuals (of all sexes - the law being non-gender specific with its use of the word "whoever") to include anal sex
, bestiality and, often after much courtroom deliberation, oral sex
as well, namely, any form of sexual intercourse which did not have the potential for procreation.
Therefore, both heterosexual and homosexual oral and anal sex were criminal offences. In this respect, Section 377 did not discriminate against homosexuals. However, early cases tried in India mainly involved forced fellatio
with unwilling male children and one unusual case of sexual intercourse
with the nostril of a buffalo
.
Theoretically, even lesbian
sex which involved penetration, eg. of a finger or sex toy into the vagina or anus, would be covered under the law, although there are no records of any judge in India or any other British colony interpreting the law to include sex between women.
In the Singaporean context, recent cases had established that heterosexual fellatio
was exempted if indulged in as foreplay
which eventually leads to coitus. The Singaporean margin note of the original Section 377 further explained that mere penetration of the penis
into the anus
or mouth even without orgasm would constitute the offence. The law applied regardless of the act being consensual between both parties and done in private.
Owing to overwhelming public support and the realisation by the politico-legal system that the statute was no longer relevant to contemporary society, Section 377 was repealed in October 2007. A new Section 377, which criminalises sex with dead bodies ("Sexual penetration of a corpse")http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=2008-REVED-224&doctitle=PENAL%20CODE%0a&date=latest&method=part&sl=1&segid=1228207124-002776#1228207125-003946, was substituted in its place.
One hypothesis is that prostitution, including that by transvestites, was rife during the early decades of the 20th century. In endeavouring to curb it, the British must have found it difficult to use Section 377 to prosecute cross-dressers, who were legally men, for having sex with their male clients if prima facie evidence of anal or oral sex could not be found. In these cases, a new law such as Section 377A which was vague enough to convict any form of non-penetrative sexual activity between men, or more accurately, a cross-dressing man and his outwardly male partner, could be used as a backup. The fact that two "men" were found naked together in an enclosed space would be sufficient for a charge to be made against them.
, also known as Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 of the UK. It was not a euphemism for buggery
or sodomy
, which was already a crime but rather, any other sexual activity between men.
It was worded thus:
"Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or is a party to the commission of, or procures, or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted shall be liable at the discretion of the Court to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour."
The almost identical phrasing between the Labouchere Amendment and Section 377A is the best evidence that the latter was derived from the former.
In the 1880s, Britain was in the grip of a moral panic about the extent of prostitution. At the time, it was legal to have sex with teenage girls as young as 13 years of age, while a thriving trade buying and selling girls for prostitution alarmed many middle-class citizens. The Criminal Law Amendment Bill was thus drafted in 1881 to combat this. However, it languished for four years until a new scandal in July 1885 - a newspaper undertaking investigative journalism managed to buy a girl - roused parliament into renewed action.
On 6 August 1885, a member of parliament, Henry Labouchere
, proposed a last-minute amendment to the bill making “gross indecency” between males an offence. There was hardly any debate although one member of parliament, Charles Warton, questioned whether Labouchere's amendment had anything to do with the original intent of the bill, namely, the prohibition of sexual assault against young women, and prostitution. Speaker Arthur Peel responded that under procedural rules any amendment was permitted as long as Parliament permitted it.
Without a record of a debate, it is difficult to know what the UK Parliament’s intention was with respect to the “gross indecency” clause. But if one considers that the Amendment Bill as a whole was designed to address prostitution and human trafficking, and if one realises that not only was female prostitution rife, but so was male prostitution, one can more or less guess why. The main part of the Criminal Law Amendment Act was gender-specific about girls as victims. Without the Labouchere Amendment, it would not have addressed male prostitution at all.
The former Attorney-General, Sir Henry James, while supporting the amendment, objected to the leniency of the sentence, and wanted to increase the penalty to two years' hard labour. Labouchere agreed, and the proposed amendment was tacked onto the full Criminal Law Amendment Bill. The latter was rushed through and passed as the Criminal Law Amendment Act in the early hours of 7 August 1885.
As a result of the vagueness of the term "gross indecency," this law allowed juries, judges and lawyers to prosecute virtually any male homosexual behaviour where actual sodomy could not be proven. The sentence was relatively light compared to sodomy, which remained a separate crime.
Lawyers dubbed the Labouchere Amendment or Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, the "Blackmailer's Charter." It was ceremoniously invoked to convict the celebrated author Oscar Wilde
ten years later, in 1895. Wilde was given the most severe sentence possible under the act, which the judge described as "totally inadequate for a case such as this." The famous mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist Alan Turing
was convicted under the same law in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration with female hormones, as an alternative to a prison sentence.
The law was repealed in part by the Sexual Offences Act 1967 when homosexual acts were decriminalised in England and Wales, with remaining provisions being deleted later.
because Queen Victoria refused to believe that they were capable of such behaviour.
In the local context, "gross indecency" is a broad term which, from a review of past cases locally, has been applied to mutual masturbation, genital contact, or even lewd behaviour without direct physical contact. As with the former Section 377, performing such acts in private does not constitute a defence. There is, nor has there ever been, any law in Singapore equally specific to non-penetrative lesbian sex. Section 377A has been in the statute books since the 1930s and has been retained even after the Penal Code review of October 2007.
After the erstwhile Section 377 was replaced by the current law criminalising sex with corpses, it has become a standing joke in the LGBT
community that in the Penal Code, gay sex (377A) is now sandwiched between sex with dead bodies (the new Section 377) and sex with animals (Section 377B, "Sexual penetration with a living animal").
Opponents of the repeal also emphasised the wishes of the putative conservative majority to retain 377A. This was despite there being no formal survey or census done specifically on the topic. In various Singaporean online forums, such as Reach, and the AsiaOne Forum, strong opinions such as homosexuality being a genetic disease, the existence of a militant gay agenda originating from the West, homosexuality being a product of Western decadence incompatible with Singapore, were repeatedly posted. Conversion treatments, such as those by NARTH, were also recommended.
A seminar entitled, "Christian Perspectives on Homosexuality and Pastoral Care" was organised by Safehaven, a ministry of the Free Community Church. It was held at the Amara Hotel on 10 May 2007.
During the dialogue, Dr. Tan Kim Huat, the Chen Su Lan
Professor of New Testament
and Dean of Studies at Trinity Theological College said, "Singapore is a pluralistic society...There must be spaces for it", referring to homosexuals in society. This was the reason he gave for supporting the repeal of Section 377A.http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/2007/05/11/1848.theology-professor-supports-repeal-of-anti-gay-law-in-singapore?n=sea&nm=377
Another forum to discuss the repeal of Section 377A was organised on 15 July 2007 by theatre company W!ld Rice
in conjunction with Happy Endings: Asian Boys Vol 3, a gay play then being staged. The forum, held at the National Library, attracted some 250 participants.
For the first time in the history of forums on gay issues in Singapore, a member of parliament from the ruling People's Action Party
, Baey Yam Keng, and a Nominated Member of Parliament
, Siew Kum Hong, were part of the five-member panel convened to debate the issue. Other members of the panel were Alex Au (gay blogger and co-founder of PLU), Rev. Yap Kim Hao (Free Community Church), and Dr Stuart Koe (CEO & Founder of Fridae.com).
Baey for the first time publicly voiced support for the law to be repealed, saying, "Personally, I think that the whip should be lifted for a very open debate and open expression of opinion by the MPs. And if that is so, I would vote for a repeal of the act."http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/2007/07/16/1899.mp-nmp-attend-forum-on-repeal-of-gay-sex-law?n=sea&nm=377
The Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) was quoted in The Straits Times
of 18 September 2007 saying that public feedback on the issue had been "emotional, divided and strongly expressed", with a majority of people calling for Section 377A to be retained.http://familyoverfreedom.blogspot.com/2007/10/keep377A-overtakes-repeal377A.html The MHA also said that it recognised that "we are generally a conservative society and that we should let the situation evolve".
The prospect for the repeal of both Sections 377 and 377A in Singapore captured the attention of gay activists worldwide. In July 2007, on a visit to Singapore, the actor Sir Ian McKellen
made an appeal to the authorities to get rid of this remnant of British colonial law, just as his country of origin had done,
Britain
, the former British colony
of Hong Kong
, and Australia
have since repealed laws prohibiting sex between men in 1967, 1991 and 1997 (in the state of Tasmania
, the last Australian state to do so) respectively. India effectively repealed its Section 377, by "reading down" the law in 2009 (see video). Elsewhere in East and South-east Asia, apart from Singapore, only Myanmar
, Malaysia and Brunei
, all former British colonies, and recently Indonesia
's Aceh
province (applicable only to Muslims), continue to criminalise sex between men.
On 3 October 2007, another online appeal was launched via the "Repeal 377A" website to gather signatories for an open letter
to the Prime Minister calling for the repeal of Section 377A. In response, a counter-petition on the website "Keep 377A" was set up by entrepreneur Martin Tan to give citizens a channel to voice support for the Government's retention of the law. By 1:30 p.m. on 20 October, Keep377A had overtaken Repeal377A by 7,068 to 7,058 signatories. (The content of the Keep377A.com website was removed in 2009, although its web address remains.)
On 12 October 2007, in an initiative headed by impresario Alan Seah, leading members of Singapore's arts fraternity, both gay and straight, took part on a promotional rap video titled "Repeal 377A Singapore!". It was produced and directed by Edgar Tang
and theatre celebrity Pam Oei
. Concerned with what was perceived as the video's narrow presentation of issues, a "Families Petition" was launched by the independent group "Family&Freedom" to run until 9 August 2015 as an awareness campaign aimed at educating the middle-ground of undecided voters on the potential long-term impact of a repeal on the institution of the family.
In addition, the opening page of Keep377A.com was amended to include the following conclusion:
"Take time to hear from friends who are gay so that we too can understand their point of views personally. In our democracy, we can learn to agree to disagree, peacefully and respectfully."
The statement was incongruous with forum postings in other parts of the site which repeatedly used derogatory terms and called for Section 377A to be actively enforced.
. The article reported findings on the attitudes of Singaporeans towards homosexuals, with an emphasis on the comfort of viewing homosexual acts in the mass media. The conclusion highlighted a significant level of negativity. It was not, however, mentioned in the article whether this negativity translated into a specific desire to criminalise homosexual acts. The objectives of the research also did not involve gauging attitudes relating to legislation.
As of November 2007, neither the research fellows involved, the school, nor Martin Tan had issued any statement regarding this.
and the Church of Our Saviour, Singapore
.
Subhas Anandan, president of the Association of Criminal Lawyers in Singapore, questioned the rationale for not repealing Section 377A in a Channel News Asia interview:
"If you are a homosexual or a lesbian, I think you can get into trouble. We are talking about an inclusive society and being more broad-minded. Why do we want to keep these people away, out of the circle? I think we should be more broad-minded, more sympathetic and allow these people to be included in our society."http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/2006/11/09/1740.singapore-to-legalise-anal-oral-sex-but-only-for-heterosexuals?n=sea&nm=section+377A
Section 377A ("Outrages on decency") states that:
Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years.
Origin
To understand the background of section 377A, the enactment of its mother statute, the original section 377 which criminalised sex "against the order of nature" and was popularly known as the "unnatural sex" law, must first be explained.The Singapore Penal Code, Chapter XVI (Offences Affecting the Human Body), Section 377 (Cap. 224) stated that:
"Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animals, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanation. Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section."
Ecclesiastical roots in Britain under Henry VIII
Douglas Saunders
Douglas Anthony Clive Saunders is a Jamaican diplomat.-Biography:Saunders and his two brothers received education from Jamaica College, Kingston, Jamaica...
(see the main article and archive of the paper, "377 and the unnatural afterlife of British colonialism").
In summary, British anti-buggery law was enacted in 1534, taking over from ecclesiastical law. The wording used, which included "abominable" (taken from the book of Leviticus
Leviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
in the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
), in addition to "buggery" (which, by the 13th century, had become associated with sodomy) and "vice", confirms its religious character. It was formulated in the context of Henry VIII's engineered break from papal authority to establish the Anglican church, and aimed to justify the seizure of the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
monasteries and the confiscation of their other rich properties. The pretext was the alleged sexual immorality of those in the religious vocation. Without this anti-Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
agenda, it seems unlikely that it would have been enacted.http://www.sgwiki.com/wiki/377_and_the_unnatural_afterlife_of_British_colonialism#Overview
Codification of law, particularly criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
, became a major reform project in Britain in the 19th century, pushed by Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
and the utilitarians. Codes were well-suited to British colonialism, providing a single, orderly written version of areas of law - easy to enact for a colony.
The Indian Penal Code
In the early years of British colonialism in the East, there existed the India Act 1833 which required the appointment of a commission to inquire into the jurisprudence of Great BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
's largest dependency. Lord Thomas Macaulay was appointed president of that commission. He drafted the Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code, intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. It was drafted in 1860 and came into force in colonial India during the British Raj in 1862...
, with the help of many experienced lawyers, to replace Hindu criminal law which had hitherto held sway in the greater part of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It was incorporated by the British colonial administration in the late 1850s.
Macaulay's draft included a Section 377, a statute based on English criminal law which sought to prohibit "buggery" or sodomy
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
, largely taken to mean anal sex between men. Under Hindu law
Hindu law
Hindu law in its current usage refers to the system of personal laws applied to Hindus, especially in India...
, consensual intercourse between members of the same sex was never an offence. In the new Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code, intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. It was drafted in 1860 and came into force in colonial India during the British Raj in 1862...
, however, Section 377 criminalised "carnal intercourse against the order of nature". The latter phrase was a new legal concoction, not previously found in British law. It was derived from words attributed to Sir William Blackstone
William Blackstone
Sir William Blackstone KC SL was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the Commentaries on the Laws of England. Born into a middle class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke...
. Harsh penalties were specified for these activities. It is of interest to note that Lord Macaulay never married and his closest companion was his sister Hannah.http://www.nndb.com/people/422/000096134/
Section 377 became effective as part of the British-imposed Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code, intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. It was drafted in 1860 and came into force in colonial India during the British Raj in 1862...
from January 1, 1862, and was adopted by the colonial masters, also as Section 377 into the Straits Settlements Penal Code in 1871. The cloned and transplanted law came into operation in the Straits Settlements
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...
of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
and Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
on September 16, 1872.
Similarly worded legislation, also under the same numbered section of each country's penal code, i.e. 377, was introduced by the British into their other Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n colonies such as India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
(now Malaysia), Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
and Burma (now Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
) in the late 19th century
19th century
The 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
as if it were a trademark.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
and Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
have the key wording
from 377, but different article numbers. Parallel wording appears in the criminal laws of
many of the former colonies in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.http://www.sgwiki.com/wiki/377_and_the_unnatural_afterlife_of_British_colonialism#Introduction
Section 377A (Outrages on decency) was added to the sub-title "Unnatural offences" in the Straits Settlements
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...
in 1938. Both Sections were absorbed unchanged into the Singapore Penal Code when the latter was passed by Singapore's Legislative Council
Legislative Council
A Legislative Council is the name given to the legislatures, or one of the chambers of the legislature of many nations and colonies.A Member of the Legislative Council is commonly referred to as an MLC.- Unicameral legislatures :...
on January 28, 1955.
The original Section 377 (repealed in October 2007)
Unnatural sex or sodomySodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
was not defined in the Indian Penal Code drafted by the British. Legal records show that Indian legislators in the 19th and early 20th centuries interpreted "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" between individuals (of all sexes - the law being non-gender specific with its use of the word "whoever") to include anal sex
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
, bestiality and, often after much courtroom deliberation, oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
as well, namely, any form of sexual intercourse which did not have the potential for procreation.
Therefore, both heterosexual and homosexual oral and anal sex were criminal offences. In this respect, Section 377 did not discriminate against homosexuals. However, early cases tried in India mainly involved forced fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
with unwilling male children and one unusual case of sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with the nostril of a buffalo
Water Buffalo
The water buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo is a large bovine animal, frequently used as livestock in southern Asia, and also widely in South America, southern Europe, northern Africa, and elsewhere....
.
Theoretically, even lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
sex which involved penetration, eg. of a finger or sex toy into the vagina or anus, would be covered under the law, although there are no records of any judge in India or any other British colony interpreting the law to include sex between women.
In the Singaporean context, recent cases had established that heterosexual fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
was exempted if indulged in as foreplay
Foreplay
In human sexual behavior, foreplay is a set of intimate psychological and physically intimate acts between two or more people meant to create desire for sexual activity and sexual arousal. Either or any of the sexual partners may initiate the foreplay, and they may not be the active partner during...
which eventually leads to coitus. The Singaporean margin note of the original Section 377 further explained that mere penetration of the penis
Penis
The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...
into the anus
Anus
The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest,...
or mouth even without orgasm would constitute the offence. The law applied regardless of the act being consensual between both parties and done in private.
Owing to overwhelming public support and the realisation by the politico-legal system that the statute was no longer relevant to contemporary society, Section 377 was repealed in October 2007. A new Section 377, which criminalises sex with dead bodies ("Sexual penetration of a corpse")http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=2008-REVED-224&doctitle=PENAL%20CODE%0a&date=latest&method=part&sl=1&segid=1228207124-002776#1228207125-003946, was substituted in its place.
Section 377A
Section 377A was introduced into the Singapore Penal Code in 1938 to criminalise all other non-penetrative sexual acts between men. Research is currently underway, facilitated by the digitisation of local newspapers in 2008, to fathom the reasons why the colonial administration sought to enact such a law here when there were more pressing concerns in an era when civilised nations were on the brink of the second World War.One hypothesis is that prostitution, including that by transvestites, was rife during the early decades of the 20th century. In endeavouring to curb it, the British must have found it difficult to use Section 377 to prosecute cross-dressers, who were legally men, for having sex with their male clients if prima facie evidence of anal or oral sex could not be found. In these cases, a new law such as Section 377A which was vague enough to convict any form of non-penetrative sexual activity between men, or more accurately, a cross-dressing man and his outwardly male partner, could be used as a backup. The fact that two "men" were found naked together in an enclosed space would be sufficient for a charge to be made against them.
The Labouchere Amendment
The term "gross indecency" used in the statute was based on the wording of the Labouchere AmendmentLabouchere Amendment
The Labouchere Amendment, also known as Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 made gross indecency a crime in the United Kingdom. The amendment gave no definition of "gross indecency," as Victorian morality demurred from precise descriptions of activity held to be immoral...
, also known as Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 of the UK. It was not a euphemism for buggery
Buggery
The British English term buggery is very close in meaning to the term sodomy, and is often used interchangeably in law and popular speech. It may be, also, a specific common law offence, encompassing both sodomy and bestiality.-In law:...
or sodomy
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
, which was already a crime but rather, any other sexual activity between men.
Wording
It was worded thus:
"Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or is a party to the commission of, or procures, or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted shall be liable at the discretion of the Court to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour."
The almost identical phrasing between the Labouchere Amendment and Section 377A is the best evidence that the latter was derived from the former.
Reason for enactment
On 6 August 1885, a member of parliament, Henry Labouchere
Henry Labouchere
Henry Du Pré Labouchère was an English politician, writer, publisher and theatre owner in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. He married the actress Henrietta Hodson....
, proposed a last-minute amendment to the bill making “gross indecency” between males an offence. There was hardly any debate although one member of parliament, Charles Warton, questioned whether Labouchere's amendment had anything to do with the original intent of the bill, namely, the prohibition of sexual assault against young women, and prostitution. Speaker Arthur Peel responded that under procedural rules any amendment was permitted as long as Parliament permitted it.
Without a record of a debate, it is difficult to know what the UK Parliament’s intention was with respect to the “gross indecency” clause. But if one considers that the Amendment Bill as a whole was designed to address prostitution and human trafficking, and if one realises that not only was female prostitution rife, but so was male prostitution, one can more or less guess why. The main part of the Criminal Law Amendment Act was gender-specific about girls as victims. Without the Labouchere Amendment, it would not have addressed male prostitution at all.
Punishment
The former Attorney-General, Sir Henry James, while supporting the amendment, objected to the leniency of the sentence, and wanted to increase the penalty to two years' hard labour. Labouchere agreed, and the proposed amendment was tacked onto the full Criminal Law Amendment Bill. The latter was rushed through and passed as the Criminal Law Amendment Act in the early hours of 7 August 1885.
Vagueness
As a result of the vagueness of the term "gross indecency," this law allowed juries, judges and lawyers to prosecute virtually any male homosexual behaviour where actual sodomy could not be proven. The sentence was relatively light compared to sodomy, which remained a separate crime.
Prosecutions
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
ten years later, in 1895. Wilde was given the most severe sentence possible under the act, which the judge described as "totally inadequate for a case such as this." The famous mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist Alan Turing
Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS , was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which played a...
was convicted under the same law in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration with female hormones, as an alternative to a prison sentence.
Repeal
The law was repealed in part by the Sexual Offences Act 1967 when homosexual acts were decriminalised in England and Wales, with remaining provisions being deleted later.
Singapore's Section 377A
Singapore's Section 377A is descended from the Labouchere Amendment.http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/romantic-rabble-v-coy-court/ There is no compelling evidence to support the legend that lesbians were not included in similar legislation all across the CommonwealthCommonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
because Queen Victoria refused to believe that they were capable of such behaviour.
In the local context, "gross indecency" is a broad term which, from a review of past cases locally, has been applied to mutual masturbation, genital contact, or even lewd behaviour without direct physical contact. As with the former Section 377, performing such acts in private does not constitute a defence. There is, nor has there ever been, any law in Singapore equally specific to non-penetrative lesbian sex. Section 377A has been in the statute books since the 1930s and has been retained even after the Penal Code review of October 2007.
After the erstwhile Section 377 was replaced by the current law criminalising sex with corpses, it has become a standing joke in the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community that in the Penal Code, gay sex (377A) is now sandwiched between sex with dead bodies (the new Section 377) and sex with animals (Section 377B, "Sexual penetration with a living animal").
Arguments raised
Advocates of the repeal often cited reasons of civil liberty, human rights, and increasing scientific evidence that homosexuality was inborn http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9AF6052DCAA30802 and found in nature http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DA7E030D2ECA1DFA. Opponents of the repeal based their arguments on the conviction that to decriminalise homosexuality would result in a breakdown of the family unit, compromise Singapore's position on procreation, and lead to future undesirable scenarios such as the approval of bestiality and paedophila.Opponents of the repeal also emphasised the wishes of the putative conservative majority to retain 377A. This was despite there being no formal survey or census done specifically on the topic. In various Singaporean online forums, such as Reach, and the AsiaOne Forum, strong opinions such as homosexuality being a genetic disease, the existence of a militant gay agenda originating from the West, homosexuality being a product of Western decadence incompatible with Singapore, were repeatedly posted. Conversion treatments, such as those by NARTH, were also recommended.
Forums organised
In the lead-up to the overhaul of the Penal Code, forums were organised to discuss the issue of homosexuality in Singapore and the repeal of Section 377A.A seminar entitled, "Christian Perspectives on Homosexuality and Pastoral Care" was organised by Safehaven, a ministry of the Free Community Church. It was held at the Amara Hotel on 10 May 2007.
During the dialogue, Dr. Tan Kim Huat, the Chen Su Lan
Chen Su Lan
Dr Chen Su Lan was one of Singapore's first local medical graduates. He was also an anti-opium fighter, philanthropist and social reformer. He served in a number of important committees including the Tan Tock Seng Hospital Management Committee, the Central Midwives Board and the Council of King...
Professor of New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
and Dean of Studies at Trinity Theological College said, "Singapore is a pluralistic society...There must be spaces for it", referring to homosexuals in society. This was the reason he gave for supporting the repeal of Section 377A.http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/2007/05/11/1848.theology-professor-supports-repeal-of-anti-gay-law-in-singapore?n=sea&nm=377
Another forum to discuss the repeal of Section 377A was organised on 15 July 2007 by theatre company W!ld Rice
W!LD RICE
W!LD RICE was founded in 2000 by Ivan Heng and is recognised as one of Singapore’s leading professional theatre companies.-Description:The company takes its inspiration from the multicultural societies that make up Singapore and modern Asia, celebrating their diverse cultures and performance...
in conjunction with Happy Endings: Asian Boys Vol 3, a gay play then being staged. The forum, held at the National Library, attracted some 250 participants.
For the first time in the history of forums on gay issues in Singapore, a member of parliament from the ruling People's Action Party
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....
, Baey Yam Keng, and a Nominated Member of Parliament
Nominated Member of Parliament
A Nominated Member of Parliament is a Member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed instead of being elected into office by the people, and who does not belong to any political party or represent any constituency. There are currently nine NMPs in Parliament...
, Siew Kum Hong, were part of the five-member panel convened to debate the issue. Other members of the panel were Alex Au (gay blogger and co-founder of PLU), Rev. Yap Kim Hao (Free Community Church), and Dr Stuart Koe (CEO & Founder of Fridae.com).
Baey for the first time publicly voiced support for the law to be repealed, saying, "Personally, I think that the whip should be lifted for a very open debate and open expression of opinion by the MPs. And if that is so, I would vote for a repeal of the act."http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/2007/07/16/1899.mp-nmp-attend-forum-on-repeal-of-gay-sex-law?n=sea&nm=377
The Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore)
The Ministry of Home Affairs is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for public safety, civil defence and immigration. It is also known as the Home Team. It is headed by the Minister for Home Affairs....
(MHA) was quoted in The Straits Times
The Straits Times
The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...
of 18 September 2007 saying that public feedback on the issue had been "emotional, divided and strongly expressed", with a majority of people calling for Section 377A to be retained.http://familyoverfreedom.blogspot.com/2007/10/keep377A-overtakes-repeal377A.html The MHA also said that it recognised that "we are generally a conservative society and that we should let the situation evolve".
The prospect for the repeal of both Sections 377 and 377A in Singapore captured the attention of gay activists worldwide. In July 2007, on a visit to Singapore, the actor Sir Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
made an appeal to the authorities to get rid of this remnant of British colonial law, just as his country of origin had done,
Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the former British colony
British overseas territories
The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...
of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
have since repealed laws prohibiting sex between men in 1967, 1991 and 1997 (in the state of Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, the last Australian state to do so) respectively. India effectively repealed its Section 377, by "reading down" the law in 2009 (see video). Elsewhere in East and South-east Asia, apart from Singapore, only Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Malaysia and Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
, all former British colonies, and recently Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
's Aceh
Aceh
Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
province (applicable only to Muslims), continue to criminalise sex between men.
On 3 October 2007, another online appeal was launched via the "Repeal 377A" website to gather signatories for an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
to the Prime Minister calling for the repeal of Section 377A. In response, a counter-petition on the website "Keep 377A" was set up by entrepreneur Martin Tan to give citizens a channel to voice support for the Government's retention of the law. By 1:30 p.m. on 20 October, Keep377A had overtaken Repeal377A by 7,068 to 7,058 signatories. (The content of the Keep377A.com website was removed in 2009, although its web address remains.)
On 12 October 2007, in an initiative headed by impresario Alan Seah, leading members of Singapore's arts fraternity, both gay and straight, took part on a promotional rap video titled "Repeal 377A Singapore!". It was produced and directed by Edgar Tang
Edgar Tang
Edgar Chi-ho Tang , , was an influential Chinese writer, journalist and educator.-Biography:...
and theatre celebrity Pam Oei
Pam Oei
Pam Oei is a Singaporean actress and comedian who has worked in theatre, television and film. She is part of the popular cabaret trio Dim Sum Dollies. She is also a certified Allen Carr therapist. -External links:*...
. Concerned with what was perceived as the video's narrow presentation of issues, a "Families Petition" was launched by the independent group "Family&Freedom" to run until 9 August 2015 as an awareness campaign aimed at educating the middle-ground of undecided voters on the potential long-term impact of a repeal on the institution of the family.
Credibility of Keep377A.com and Repeal377A.com
As online petitions, both websites suffered the same doubts regarding the credibility of the numbers of their signatories. There was no mention of whether technical measures were taken to ensure that multiple-voting by the same person was prevented.In addition, the opening page of Keep377A.com was amended to include the following conclusion:
"Take time to hear from friends who are gay so that we too can understand their point of views personally. In our democracy, we can learn to agree to disagree, peacefully and respectfully."
The statement was incongruous with forum postings in other parts of the site which repeatedly used derogatory terms and called for Section 377A to be actively enforced.
Research cited by Keep377A.com
One of the references cited within Keep377A.com was a research article titled "Singaporeans’ Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men and their Tolerance of Media Portrayals of Homosexuality",http://ijpor.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/extract/19/3/367 written by Benjamin H. Detenber and Mark Cenite of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological UniversityNanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University is one of the two largest public universities in Singapore with the biggest campus in Singapore and the world's largest engineering college. Its lush 200-hectare Yunnan Garden campus was the Youth Olympic Village of the world's first 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in...
. The article reported findings on the attitudes of Singaporeans towards homosexuals, with an emphasis on the comfort of viewing homosexual acts in the mass media. The conclusion highlighted a significant level of negativity. It was not, however, mentioned in the article whether this negativity translated into a specific desire to criminalise homosexual acts. The objectives of the research also did not involve gauging attitudes relating to legislation.
As of November 2007, neither the research fellows involved, the school, nor Martin Tan had issued any statement regarding this.
Copycat sites
Towards the end of October 2007, at least one copycat site emerged - Support377A.com. Created in virtually the same format as its predecessors, it nevertheless only featureed letters to forums against the repeal, and supposed church sermons given on the subject by the Cornerstone Community ChurchCornerstone Community Church
Cornerstone Community Church is an independent, Pentecostal multi-congregational Church based in Singapore. The church currently has eight services over the weekend, comprising its English, Mandarin, African, Indonesian, Filipino, youth and children congregations...
and the Church of Our Saviour, Singapore
Church of Our Saviour, Singapore
Church of Our Saviour is one of the megachurches in Singapore, currently located in a renovated ex-cinema in Queenstown. It began as a mission in the 1950s along Alexandra Road. Since, it has grown from a small congregation consisting of lesser than 80 members to its present worship attendance of...
.
Reaction of the public
While conservative Singaporeans who had agitated for the retention of Section 377A were pleased, the LGBT community and more progressive factions were enraged.Subhas Anandan, president of the Association of Criminal Lawyers in Singapore, questioned the rationale for not repealing Section 377A in a Channel News Asia interview:
"If you are a homosexual or a lesbian, I think you can get into trouble. We are talking about an inclusive society and being more broad-minded. Why do we want to keep these people away, out of the circle? I think we should be more broad-minded, more sympathetic and allow these people to be included in our society."http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/2006/11/09/1740.singapore-to-legalise-anal-oral-sex-but-only-for-heterosexuals?n=sea&nm=section+377A
Section 377A actively enforced again
Section 377A was again used to charge two men having for having oral sex in a toilet cubicle at Mustafa Centre. The gay community was enraged because the non-gay discriminatory Section 294, which criminalises "any obscene act in any public place" irrespective of gender,http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=2008-REVED-224&doctitle=PENAL%20CODE%0a&date=latest&method=part&sl=1&segid=1228207124-002517#1228207124-002724,http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/the-377a-hide-and-seek/ could have easily been used instead.Constitutional challenge
On 24 September 2010, criminal lawyer M. Ravi filed an application in the High Court to challenge the constitutionality of Section 377A on behalf of his client Tan Eng Hong, who was charged for allegedly having oral sex with another consenting adult male in a locked cubicle of a public toilet.http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100924-0000220/Lawyer-challenges-gay-sex-law,http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/11/anti-gay-laws-continue-to-be-used-selectively-despite-assurances-m-ravi/See also
- Criminal law of SingaporeCriminal law of SingaporeAlthough the legal system of Singapore is a common law system, the criminal law of Singapore is largely statutory in nature. The general principles of criminal law, as well as the elements and penalties of common criminal offences such as homicide, theft and cheating, are set out in the Penal Code...
- LGBT rights in Singapore
- Penal Code (Singapore)Penal Code (Singapore)The Penal Code of Singapore sets out general principles of the criminal law of Singapore, as well as the elements and penalties of common criminal offences such as homicide, theft and cheating...
- Sodomy lawSodomy lawA sodomy law is a law that defines certain sexual acts as crimes. The precise sexual acts meant by the term sodomy are rarely spelled out in the law, but are typically understood by courts to include any sexual act deemed unnatural. It also has a range of similar euphemisms...
- Paragraph 175Paragraph 175Paragraph 175 was a provision of the German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994. It made homosexual acts between males a crime, and in early revisions the provision also criminalized bestiality. All in all, around 140,000 men were convicted under the law.The statute was amended several...
Further reading
- Original PDF version of the academic paper, "377 and the unnatural afterlife of British colonialism" by Douglas Saunders, August, 2007:http://signelwiki003.pbworks.com/w/file/36066434/douglas_sanders_377_unnatural_afterlife.pdf.. A review of all Singaporean laws governing homosexual behaviour.
External links
- Keep377A.com – campaign for the retention of section 377A of the Penal Code
- Repeal377a.com – campaign for the repeal of section 377A of the Penal Code
- Singapore Daily page on 377A – collection of blogger postings on section 377A of the Penal Code
- Archive of newsclips relating to Section 377A – a YouTube playlist
- Wikileaks US Embassy report of Section 377A Wikileaks US Embassy report of Section 377A