| The Associated Press
December 9, 2004
Singapore Bans Christmas Because It Might Be
Gay
(Singapore) Police in Singapore scuttled plans for
an all-night Christmas dance party, saying Thursday
it would likely be a gay event because the organizers
had previously held a ball where most of the revelers
"seemed to be homosexual."
Singapore, an ultramodern city-state of four million
people, still bans gay sex, defining it as "an
act of gross indecency" punishable by a maximum
of two years in jail. There have been few prosecutions,
however.
A local company, Jungle Media, had planned to hold
a party called Snowball.04 at a former disco from 9
p.m. local time Christmas until dawn.
But police said in a statement Thursday they had refused
to grant a public entertainment license to Jungle Media,
following a ball organized by the company this year.
At the previous party, revelers, some of them dressed
in the clothing of the opposite sex, behaved inappropriately,
police said.
"Patrons of the same gender were seen openly kissing
and intimately touching each other,'' the statement
said.
"Patrons were also seen using the toilets of the
opposite sex."
The conduct of the partygoers suggested most were probably
gays or lesbians and the event was almost exclusively
for them, police said. Some complaints were received.
Police said they do not discriminate against gays because
of their sexual orientation but said Singapore is a
"conservative and traditional" society.
"The police cannot approve any application for
an event which goes against the moral values of a large
majority of Singaporeans," the statement said.
Activist Alex Au from gay rights group People Like
Us said he had no objection to a crackdown on public
indecency but said police appeared to be acting on a
vague definition of "acting gay."
" It seems to imply that there is now a broad
ban on any party that is a gay party," he said.
"We hope that is not the case."
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