Singapore, Nov 29 (PTI) Singapore will decriminalize same-sex relationships but protect its definition of marriage against legal challenge after parliament approved changes to two bills on Tuesday.
Section 377A of the colonial-era penal code was passed in Parliament with a majority of 93 to three votes, Channel News Asia reported.
According to the report, a constitutional amendment to protect the definition of marriage against legal challenge was passed by a majority of 85 to two votes.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam reiterated that the constitutional change will protect the heterosexual definition of marriage as well as the laws and policies based on it.
Minister of Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli insisted that there were no plans to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex marriages, adding that it would be difficult for religious leaders or anyone to obtain a license for same-sex marriages. To persuade the couple to have sex would be against the law.
One can still proclaim one’s beliefs about homosexuality or family on the platform, even if others disagree. But no one should incite violence or hatred towards others,? The report quoted him as saying.
He said religious organizations, as owners of their premises at places of worship, have the discretion to disallow same-sex ceremonies or weddings being held on their premises.
?While exercising religious freedom, we must understand that we are also members of a pluralistic society,? said the minister.
?We must graciously accommodate those whose values differ from ours. Gay people are members of our society and have access to the same opportunities and social supports as other Singaporeans.”
Turning to schools, Masagos said Singapore’s education policies and curriculum are based on prevailing family values and social norms, including the family as the cornerstone of the country’s social fabric and marriage between a man and a woman .
With the passage of the two Bills…we have created space for the society to deliberate on social issues within the political process and not through a legal route which is zero-sum in nature.”
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