Singapore: Gay Male Sex Is Still Illegal

The Singapore High Court has dismissed a lawsuit that contends that the nation's criminalization of male homosexuality is discriminatory and unconstitutional.

In his 92-page judgment, Justice Quentin Loh said that Singapore's society in the midst of change, and in a case where the change in a "particular long-held social norm" has yet to gain currency, a court is "hard put" to decide whether to retain or discard that social norm. That decision, he said, is best left to Parliament, and he noted that Parliament had voted to retain Section 377A in 2007.

In 2007 Singapore legalized sex between women but let stand the above-cited ordinance which outlaws "gross indecency" between men. Enforcement of that law is rare.