| Reuters
December 9, 2004
Singapore rejects plan for gay Christmas party
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's police have rejected
plans by gay activists to hold a Christmas dance party,
saying it would be "contrary to public interest".
Jungle Media, a Singapore subsidiary of fridae.com,
Asia's largest gay web site, applied for a public entertainment
licence on October 20 to hold a party dubbed "SnowBall.04"
at a local disco over the Christmas weekend. In a statement
released to Reuters on Thursday, the police said it
does not discriminate against Singaporeans with gay
tendencies but that Singapore was "by and large
a conservative and traditional society".
"Hence, the police cannot approve any application
for an event which goes against the moral values of
a large majority of Singaporeans," it said.
Singapore has moved in recent years to shatter its
prudish image, turning a blind eye to the growth of
an entertainment industry catering for homosexuals and
hosting a gay and lesbian festival in August that attracted
about 6,000 people.
The government revealed last year that gay people now
worked in the public service -- a policy shift aimed
in part at fostering a creative class.But activists
say the change is slow and discrimination against gays
is rampant.
"Gays in Singapore are allowed to work in the
civil service, including the police force, but are not
allowed to hold a private function," said Stuart
Koe, a spokesman for fridae.com.
Perhaps the biggest bane for homosexuals in Singapore
is a law that still criminalises consensual homosexual
acts. Under Penal Code section 377A, acts of "gross
indecency" between two men are punishable by up
to two years in jail.
The police statement said they had approved previous
parties organised by Jungle Media after receiving assurance
the events would not be organised as "gay parties".
But it said that during these events, "patrons
of the same gender were seen openly kissing and intimately
touching each other," suggesting the event was
almost exclusively for gays and lesbians.
Police had also received "several letters of complaint"
from patrons at the events about "openly gay acts".
"Future applications for events of similar nature
will be closely scrutinised," it said. |
