Singapore will decriminalize sex between men, the prime minister said on Sunday, adding that society in the city-state was becoming more accepting of gays.
But he added that the government had no intention of changing the city-state’s legal definition of marriage, which is between a man and a woman.
“I think this is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will now accept,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his annual National Day rally speech, adding that the government will repeal Section 377A of the penal code, a colonial law. it was the law that criminalized sex between men.
“Even if we repeal Section 377A, we will maintain and safeguard the institution of marriage… Under the law, only marriages between a man and a woman are recognized in Singapore,” Lee added.