In 2013, the Our Singapore Conversation survey revealed that that close to half of over 4,000 respondents rejected “gay lifestyles” and “same-sex marriage”. In 2014, the Institute of Policy Studies’ Survey on Race, Religion and Language reminded us – with the statistic that more than 70% view “sexual relations between two adults of the sex” or “gay marriage” as “always wrong/almost always wrong” – that nothing seems to have changed. Even beyond Singapore, with the reversal of gay rights in India and the newly instated anti-gay laws in Russia, the battle for equality seems to be taking one step forward, two steps back.
But the truth is, all is not quiet on the LGBT front.
Just recently, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) was mired in controversy for the FAQ section on sexuality featured on their website. For providing affirmative information for individuals who may have questions about sexuality in this FAQ section, they were accused of undermining family values in Singapore by some,sparking off petitions, counter-petitions, and many heated exchanges on social media. Google’s satire of Russia’s anti-gay law with their signature Google doodle in rainbow colours dedicated to the Olympic charter. The Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion’s priceless video response (sensuously depicting the Olympic sport of luging) to Russia about keeping Olympics as they have always been – a little gay. Ellen Page coming out at Human Right Campaign’s conference. And as always, the countless lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender persons put up resistance against discrimination in their own small but significant ways.
Pastor Lawrence Khong wrote an opinion piece in My Paper detailing why he felt that HPB is mistaken and made a clear case against homosexuality. Speaking as only one with omnipotent gods and their eternal truths would, he argues with conviction that homosexuality “violates… moral [standards]” and that a homosexual relationship is “unnatural” as well “abnormal”. The present article is not concerned with such a task of convincing you about the right or wrongs of homosexuality (what do those words mean anyway – “right” and “wrong”?) It has become apparent that there is very little point in trying to change someone’s beliefs about homosexuality and understandably so, considering how sexuality is invariably entangled with a person’s most fundamental beliefs about life and how to live it. Such a daunting and fruitless task ought best to be left to pastors who claim to know the objective meanings of right and wrong. And ultimately, whether they fail or succeed at their task matters very little if our society were mature enough to simply agree to disagree.
This is by no means a suggestion that debates surrounding sexuality should cease. On the contrary, debate should flourish, be sustained and facilitated (as it has been in recent years, thus the title of this article). People need to present their viewpoints as well as rationales and at the same time be exposed to that of others. This process ought to rinse and repeat until we realize that sometimes it is perhaps impossible to convert another person to our cause and that, is perfectly alright. We ought to, however, be prudent in case our open-mindedness translate into indifference and the metaphorical waving of white flags in the face of legislation that discriminate against the LGBT community. The legal challenges to section 337A of the Penal Code in 2013, though rendered unconstitutional, was a political and social call to arms for continuous debate to effect legislative changes to protect each individual equally – regardless of race, religion, or sexuality.
As a society we do not need to have a homogenous opinion – it is impossible, impractical, and honestly rather dull. What we do need, is to acknowledge our differences and learn to put them aside, reminding ourselves that even the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church, when asked for his opinions on gays, simply said: “who am I to judge?”