ST Forum: Whether Heterosexual or Gay, Treat All Equally

Wednesday, May 2, 2007


SAFE is a group of family and friends who affirm and support gay and transgendered people as persons with equal rights to respect, dignity, acceptance and empowerment in society.


We are writing to express our thanks to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew for his recent comments at the dialogue with Young PAP and in the interview with Reuters.

We appreciate the two cogent points he made:

That homosexuality is a genetic variation, not an aberration.

That the law against homosexual acts is outmoded.

We at SAFE are hopeful that the law that criminalises homosexual acts will be abolished. Whether heterosexual or gay, we believe that all Singapore citizens and residents should be treated equally under the law.

We cannot agree with a law that proclaims our sons, grandsons, brothers, nephews, uncles, relatives and friends as criminals for a propensity that is not of their volition, is innocuous and part of their private lives. For far too long our gay loved ones from a young age have suffered deep internalised oppression, often resulting in the disintegration of family, compromised relationships, low self-esteem, stunted maturity and unavoidable deceitfulness.

We support the decriminalisation of oral and anal sex as proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and ask that it apply equally to all consenting adults.

Homosexual men and women enrich our lives through their participation in business, the professions, the arts and government. As we focus on the richness gay people bring to our lives and our love and support for them, we not only liberate them, but we also become a society committed to the Asian values of real family.

Susan Yap Siu Sen (Ms)
Founding member
S A F E

Supporting, Affirming & Empowering our lgbtQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning) friends and family

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