05.10.08
Posted in LGBT Rights, Queer Men, Singapore Gay News at 1:09 am by sayoni
This was reported in the Straits Times on 8th May.
IN THE first case of its kind, a chef infected with HIV was charged in court yesterday with engaging in oral sex with a 16-year-old without first informing him of the risks of contracting the virus that causes Aids.Chan Mun Chiong, 43, pleaded guilty to that charge as well as to another of committing an act of gross indecency with the teen.
The Ministry of Health summons charge said he had oral sex without first telling the teenager about the HIV risk. He also failed to get him to voluntarily agree to accept that risk. The offence carries a fine of up to $10,000 or up to two years in jail, or both.
The sex charge said that the bespectacled, spiky-haired man and the boy performed the sex acts in a cubicle of a men’s toilet at the Northpoint Shopping Centre in Yishun on Sept 15 last year. For the gross indecency charge, he faces a jail term of up to two years.
Chan, who did not have a lawyer, was released on $10,000 bail. He is expected back in court today for his case to be dealt with.
He does not face stiffer penalties that were passed by Parliament last month as they had yet to go into effect.
Under amendments to the Infectious Diseases Act, those found guilty of having unprotected sex even if they do not know but have ‘reason to believe’ that they have or have been exposed to HIV can be jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined up to $50,000.
The Health Ministry has in the past investigated some cases, but no one has been prosecuted until yesterday.
One case was compounded last year. In another case, a foreigner being investigated left the country in 2005 before he could be charged.
‘Tis the season, not for merry and joy, but for news after news of institutionalized homophobia, here in Singapore. Firstly, two media providers were separately fined by the MDA for airing content deemed to be too pro-gay, barely weeks apart. Secondly, a gay sauna was unreasonably and (possibly extra-legally) raided by the police.
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05.08.08
Posted in Coming out, Emotional Health, Identity, LGBT Rights, Relationships at 3:00 pm by jin
Image Copyright of Sayoni
One Sunday I had lunch with my uncle. We get along fairly well and I am out to him, but we are not at the stage where we have copious open free conversations about my relationship status or my partner. Anyhow, during lunch, it was just the two of us because my aunt was out of town. We were having a routine, run-of-the-mill conversation as usual (What are you ordering; how was your trip to Bangkok, how much did you pay for a massage; did you know that iceberg lettuce lowers blood sugar; the car is due for servicing etc)
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- About: Jin believes the big bad homophobic world can be changed one small step at a time
- Forum discussion:
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04.28.08
Posted in LGBT Rights, Singapore Gay News at 11:38 am by sayoni
The following news story was spotted on the blog of a local gay blogger - the original newsletter that was sent out is not available for linking. Club 1-7 is a male-only sauna, and such saunas are popularly associated with cruising venues for queer men.
From 1-7 newsletter
Dear members,
Our water supply was turned off at 10pm on the 25th April 2008, Saturday. When we opened the back door to investigate and turn it back on, a few plain-clothed officers from the CID rushed in. Sam immediately tried to stop them and demanded to know what was going on. They told him that they were conducting a ’spot-check’. When asked what they were checking for, they simply repeated ’spot-check’. the officers refused to specify what they were checking for despite repeated demands. Sam also asked if they had a warrant to check the premises. They refused to reply.
At this point in time, we turned on all the lights upstairs and downstairs to alert the members that a check was going on. None of the members were stopped from dressing or leaving, nor were they searched or any particulars taken.
When a female officer tried to enter, Sam repeatedly shouted that she was not allowed to enter as we are a private men’s club and insisted that she leave. Thereupon, the supervising officer threw Sam to the ground and twisted his arms behind his back to handcuff him. Because of this, Sam sustained cuts to his wrist and bruises on his left rib, for which he was later brought to the Singapore General Hospital for treatment.
The officers only removed several DVDs and Sam was arrested and spent the night in jail. He has been charged with assaulting (pushing) the officer that handcuffed him despite never having laid hands upon him. Sam is 74 years old. The officer was about 40.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will give a free return visit to anyone who was here when the incident occurred - just tell the front desk.
We are open for business as usual for our 8TH YEAR from 11:30am to 11:30pm on weekdays and from 11:30am till 7am the following day on Fridays and Saturdays.
Club One Seven.
Editor’s Note: The above letter has been edited for minor grammar and spelling, but the content has not been altered.
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- Forum discussion: LGBT News & Rights
- technorati: gay, queer, singapore, sauna, s377A, police raids
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04.26.08
Posted in LGBT Rights, Singapore Gay News at 3:26 am by sayoni
Barely weeks after Starhub was fined 10,000 for showing a lesbian kissing scene, another TV station has been slapped with a fine.
TV Channel 5 has been fined by the Media Development Authority (MDA) for an episode in an acquired series, “Find and Design”. The episode normalises and promotes a gay lifestyle and was aired on Sunday, 13 January 2008 at 7.30am.
The programme “Find and Design” is a home and decor series and in the episode concerned, the host helps a gay couple to transform their game room into a new nursery for their adopted baby. The episode contained several scenes of the gay couple with their baby as well as the presenter’s congratulations and acknowledgement of them as a family unit in a way which normalises their gay lifestyle and unconventional family setup. This is in breach of the Free-to-Air TV Programme Code which disallows programmes that promote, justify or glamourise gay lifestyles.
MDA also consulted the Programme Advisory Committee for English Programmes (PACE) and the Committee was also of the view that a gay relationship should not be presented as an acceptable family unit. As the programme was shown on a Sunday morning, PACE felt that this was inappropriate as such a timeslot was within family viewing hours.
Taking into account the severity of the breach, the telecast time of the programme and the fact that this was a second breach for MediaCorp TV, MDA found that a financial penalty was warranted and issued MediaCorp TV a fine of $15,000.
So, just showing that gay people exist, and can be happy, is such an anathema that it has to be regulated by repeated stiff-upper-lip fines and threats, in this sunny island of Singapore. Once again, the authorities fail to recognise that there can be no “promotion” of homosexuality - people are either queer or they are not.
What is this harm that they are bending over backwards to protect the people from? Because, the only thing that will result from watching the program is that maybe more people will be more accepting of homosexuality and learn that it is possible to have a happy gay family, that we are not all drug-using promiscuous unhappy people. Once again, this change in attitude, the acknowledgment that gay people are human, does not mean that they are going to BE gay. We are normal people living normal lives, paying our mortgages and taxes, going to work, contributing to society.
The authorities are trying hard, very very hard, to make sure there is no way that attitudes can be changed in any way. What they are protecting is not families, but the shell that people live in, to make sure there is absolutely no possibility intolerant attitudes can change, because that would really mean the end of the world, if there was a little less hate in our hearts for people who are different from us.
Protecting hate can be a tough job, and we extend our congratulations to the authorities for doing a fine job of it.
- technorati: gay, queer, singapore, gay rights, media, ban, mda
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03.25.08
Posted in General, LGBT Rights at 10:59 pm by Kelly
Or how else to save the world
Image taken from Afterstonewall.com
I had an interview with a student conducting research last week. She and her partner were interested in what made people interested in political and social activism. I suggested that there are three prerequisites:
1. Consciousness
We are aware of the ways in which the world is imperfect or could be better. We consider the sources of influence. Without such consciousness, there would appear to be no necessity for action.
2. Role
We believe that we have a role to play in effecting change. The role may include spending time and energy mobilising others and building a sense of community, persuading publicly and privately for the cause. It may involve empowering the marginalised to live well, be seen and speak up.
3. Hope
We believe that things will get better with our contributions. Progress may take decades and it may be slow, but change will happen.
Unlike social workers, philanthropists and teachers, we may not be directly aiding beneficiaries. We are trying to address the systemic faults, ignorance and apathy which have given birth to a cause. Perhaps the word ‘activist’ simply recognises a role being played, not the extent to which one cares about the issue. Read the rest of this entry »
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03.19.08
Posted in Coming out, LGBT Rights at 5:30 pm by AnJ
“Anj, have you experienced acceptance with respect to your sexuality?”
Before i answer that question, i have to explain what i understand of the term “acceptance”. To me, acceptance is multi-leveled and multi-layered- proximity and depth.
The levels:
1. Society
2. Work Sphere [E.g. Colleagues]
3. Extended Social Sphere [E.g. Acquaintances]
4. Immediate Social Sphere [E.g. Close friends]
5. External Family
6. Immediate Family
The layers, with respect to proximity:
1. Accepting the existence of gay persons in society
2. Accepting the existence of gay persons in one’s interaction circle
3. Accepting the existence of gay persons as friends [genuine respect for the person comes in]
4. Accepting the existence of gay persons as family [e.g. sister's partner is now your sis-in-law]
5. Accepting a gay child
The layers, with respect to depth:
1. Superficial acceptance [Pretending it's fine]
2. Greater acceptance [It's fine but some bits ain't so fine]
3. Complete acceptance Read the rest of this entry »
- About: Anj believes things get better.
- Forum discussion: Sayoni Forum
- technorati: Acceptance, coming out, lesbian, gay
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11.01.07
Posted in Humour, LGBT Rights at 10:43 pm by pleinelune
Inspired by the likes of Thio Li-Ann and a commentor only known as Seowteochew. A shorter version was first posted here.
I’m going to let you guys in on a secret: all the rumours about the Gay Agenda are absolutely true. Every last word. In my hands I have the Masterplan of the Gay Community, otherwise known as Gaytopia 2050, hardcopy edition. I’ve obtained these plans from the headquarters of Homopolis, located somewhere in between the end of the rainbow and the pot of gold. It wasn’t easy sneaking it out, as I had to get past a couple of flamboyant queens who insisted on giving me makeup tips, and a whole army of dancing gay men who wouldn’t let me pass until I Flaunted it. And then there was the perilous trip across the oily and slippery room of diesel dykes, and the final barrier: walking through the Hall of Decadence.
Before the queens in high heels descend on me with their featherboas, I am going to give you all a sneakpeak in to the Masterplan, planned to the second, till 2050.
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10.24.07
Posted in LGBT Rights, Politics at 12:28 am by pleinelune
Dear Ms Thio
I am not as learned as you in law. I am but a first-year law student. A law student who happens to identify as queer, and has spent the last two years working in the queer activism scene, who now loves a woman, who now wishes to rid this country of the blight known as section 377A.
Ms Thio, I am sure you know this section very well… in fact, you dedicated an entire speech to the impassioned defence of it, not even touching on things like marital rape immunity. I am surprised… I thought an educated, feminist woman like yourself would have some feelings on this section which effectively takes away the right of married women to their bodies…. but I digress. You expounded in detail upon the merits of retaining this law. You showed us all how much you hate us gay people - like we couldn’t tell from the letters to ST. When I read your speech, my first impulse was to laugh. Then as I read on, cringing at the leaps of logic, and wincing at the palpable hatred pouring out of the paper.
I will now proceed to rebutt you: point by point.
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- About: Pleinelune is irritated by rhetorical arguments
- Forum discussion: LGBT News and Rights
- technorati: gay, queer, lesbian, homosexuality, rights, 377a, singapore
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10.07.07
Posted in Announcements, LGBT Rights, Singapore Gay News at 1:35 pm by sayoni
Sayoni supports the effort to repeal section 377A from the Penal Code of Singapore, and we would like to request all our readers to sign the online letter to the Prime Minister with your real name.
Please do tell your friends and loved ones about it too. Every signature counts, and this is your opportunity to tell the government that discrimination is unacceptable.
To know more about the penal code and the amendments:
Amended Penal Code
Focus Group Discussion at MHA in 2006
PM Lee Hsien Loong’s Comments
MM Lee Kwan Yew’s Comments
- Forum discussion: LGBT News & Rights
- technorati: queer, gay, 377A, decriminalisation, singapore, penal code, petition
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09.23.07
Posted in LGBT Rights at 1:07 am by pleinelune
Image from Stonewallvets.org
Lee Hsien Loong has spoken, echoing both his predecessors in his views on homosexuality. It is interesting how the Father, the Holy Goh and the Spirit all seem to come down on the same side of the fence, willing to decriminalise but seeming to hold back for the fear of the “conservative majority”
As of this moment, I will not deny that my morale is pretty low. It does not seem likely that the decriminalisation will take place in this penal code review. We neither have the time, nor the political climate, or rather, weather, on our side, given that the second reading is just 1 month away. In the first place, the announcement of the first reading took us by surprise, as it was originally slated to take place next year. By the time we learnt about it, it was too late.
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- About: Pleinelune is exhausted
- Forum discussion: LGBT Rights
- technorati: queer, lesbian, gay, decriminalisation, 377A, activism
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