I am writing a short response to the opinion piece, “SINGAPOREANS NEED TO BE MORE ACCEPTING OF THE GAY-LESBIAN COMMUNITY.” I commend the author for speaking his mind and standing up for the minority in Singapore. It is true that Singapore need some waking up to do when it comes to LGBT rights. Majority are still conservatives who have no idea what it is like to be discriminated upon based on their sexuality.
But things are indeed looking up. The pink dot even is growing every year and we are seeing more of the online community showing their support towards equal rights. I believe with education, many of the misconceptions and bigotry will eventually fade out.
However, there is a giant hurdle that the LGBT community have to contend against, Religion, particularly Christianity and Islam. It is no secret that the Christianity and Islam are both anti-gay. Both ideologies see homosexuality as an “abomination” and the religious community has a long history of persecuting homosexual throughout the ages. Even to this day, homosexuals are actively being prosecuted, tortured and executed in the countries where these religions are law. The Muslim majority Middle East, the Christian Majority Africa and Russia.
In Singapore’s case, these Religions did not become our nation’s law BUT it has been our policy to “respect” their religious views. You will see that majority of the opposition towards equal rights will come from the religious conservatives. You can already see the oppositions in the comments are mostly made by Malay Muslims and majority of Singapore’s anti-gay facebook group comprise of either Muslims or Christians (https://www.facebook.com/groups/542917079078427/members/). Under our current political climate, no Singaporean politician will dare go against these religious right winged views.
To overcome this hurdle, Singapore must face the truth and denounce this religion based bigotry. Just because you believe your invisible man in the sky said that he nuked two cities because he don’t like gays does not mean you get to force your belief on the rest of us. Your religion doesn't deserve respect if it discriminate others based on how they were born.
A Young Singaporean ex-Muslim
TRS Contributor