I read with great disdain articles online from Singaporeans who mentioned harsh and nasty remarks against our local LGBT and gay community. From all these Singaporean fiasco, I can only conclude one thing and one thing only. Singapore at large is an extreme prejudice society that doesn’t practices what she preached. In short, prejudice and double standards.
Any form of prejudice should not be allowed, it should not matter where someone comes from, their religion, colour of skin or sexual orientation. Yet so many people who condemn racism, discriminate against gays and have extreme homophobia. To me, the fact that they criminalize and marginalize gays is already a form of prejudice. Prejudicial Singaporeans should be ashamed of themselves. Racism and homophobia are one and the same.
For the other half of Singaporeans who say they are 'open' to gays and don't 'discriminate against them' is mostly because it's the cool and trendy thing to do in the eyes of the western world. You have to be 'ok with gays' to show that you are open minded, worldly and not stuck in a well.
The western world has propagated the notion that all men are equal and we all have the freedom to choose what we want to do and to be a homophobe is to infringe upon another person's freedom of expression. We are all very influenced by the philosophies and societal norms of the western culture.
When you were young, did you think men should have sex with men? Would that have been considered 'normal' to you? Highly likely not. So what changed? How did you become suddenly open minded and enlightened? Was it because you had a gay friend who was going through a tough time? Or was it because it was cool and trendy to be open to everything (circa 1970s woodstock) and not narrow minded, to embrace the anti-establishment and break away from the status quo?
Social media also has a great part to play in shaping our notions towards acceptance or non-acceptance of gays. Blind faith of followers to their worshipped bloggers, celebrities, churches, etc would often just blindly follow and regurgitate what their beloved idols had to say about the gay issue. There is a herd/social instinct playing a role here. What is socially acceptable at the moment and what is not? What is seen as 'evil' or taboo and what is seen as the latest social fad?
This raging LGBT and gay argument will surely continue for years to come. Singapore government looks unlikely to abolish Section 377A anywhere in the near future despite growing public pressures. I guess what I’m trying to say here is for the Singaporeans who are ‘open’ to gays, please don’t just blindly follow social media trends because it’s cool or the ‘right’ thing to do, or don’t just embrace anti-establishment for the sake of it. Dig down inside yourselves, and ask yourselves. Would you want to practice prejudice and discrimination against gays just like how some westerners in Singapore or in their home countries like Australia practice discrimination and prejudice against you as a Chinese, Malay, Indian or simply another skin color other than white? I wouldn't want to live in this kind of world. Would you?
Mr Style King
MrStyleKing.com is one of the best and leading food and travel blogs in Singapore, and has won the ‘Best Food & Travel Blog’ and ‘Best Lifestyle Blog’ from Singapore Tourism. The chief editor behind the articles is the man who has an inexplicable love for food, travel and the finer things in life.
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