Singapore To Keep LGBTQ Content Restrictions Although Gay Sex Ban Has Been Repealed

Liz Shackleton
·2 min read
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Singapore’s government has confirmed that it will continue to restrict LGBTQ film and media content to older audiences, despite overturning a decades-old law that banned gay sex.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on national TV on Sunday that the city-state would be abolishing the 377A law, which bans sex between men. The law was first introduced by the British colonial government and Singapore chose to keep it after independence in 1965.

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Lee said the move would align Singapore’s legal systems with “current social mores, and I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans”.

However, Lee also said the government would strengthen the laws recognizing the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, making it much more difficult for same-sex marriage to be legalized.

On Monday, Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) issued a statement confirming that: “MCI and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) regulate media content to protect younger audiences from age-inappropriate content, and at the same time enable mature audiences to make informed choices over a diverse range of content.

“Our content regulatory approach has to be sensitive to societal norms and values. We will continue to take reference from prevailing norms. LGBT media content will continue to warrant higher age ratings.”

Disney/Pixar’s animated film Lightyear recently received a rating in Singapore that limits the film to audiences aged 16 and above, due to a scene depicting a kiss between two female characters.

Under Singapore’s current film rules, regulated by the IMDA, films that focus on “alternative sexualities” or depict sexual activity between two people of the same gender are classified at the highest rating of R21, restricting viewers to adults above the age of 21. A lower rating of M18, for viewers above the age of 18, can be used for content in which homosexual themes are part of a subplot.

Singapore’s neighboring country Malaysia, which continues to criminalize gay sex, also restricts gay-themed content, most recently halting the theatrical release of both Lightyear and Thor: Love And Thunder when Disney refused to make LGBTQ-related cuts.

China and India have both decriminalized gay sex – India striking down its ban as recently as 2018 – but same sex marriage remains illegal and LGBTQ content is restricted in both countries. China has not imported either Lightyear and Thor: Love And Thunder, but that is more likely due to a wider ideological strategy, rather than issues over specific scenes or LGBTQ content.

Taiwan has one of the most progressive stances in the region, legalizing same-sex marriage in 2019, and has few curbs on LGBTQ content.

 

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