Repealing 377A: What LGBTQ discrimination looks like in Singapore

With the recent announcement that the Singapore government will be repealing section 377A of the Penal Code, effectively decriminalising consensual intimacy between adult men in private and public, there has been renewed interest in understanding sexual and gender minorities, and the wider lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) community here. Acknowledging that discrimination against this minority will not end immediately with repeal, I will be addressing various issues that continue to impact the community, including aspects of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.

Leow Yangfa is a registered social worker and executive director of Oogachaga, Singapore’s most established, community-based, professional non-profit organisation working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & gender-diverse (LGBTQ+) individuals, couples and families, and founded in 1999. Yangfa graduated with a Bachelor (Honours) in Social Policy (Royal Holloway, University of London), and Graduate Diploma in Social Work (National University of Singapore). He edited the anthology “I Will Survive: Personal LGBT stories in Singapore”, first published in 2011 and currently in its third edition. He is a proud guncle (gay uncle) to 5 nieces. His 2 nephews, Harley & Gigi, are golden retrievers.