Singapore’s LGBT community feels safer as end of ban brings change

Change is afoot in the conservative city-state of Singapore with a softening of attitudes and growing tolerance of gay issues, which some members of the LGBT community and academics attribute to the November lifting of a ban on sex between men. Sociologist Laavanya Kathiravelu said changes in legislation could shift mindsets, especially in places such as Singapore, with its "strong government that has often directed the moral limits of what is acceptable or not". "The repeal of 377A could be interpreted as a top-down signal that the social and political landscape has changed. This means that even those who do not necessarily agree with the repeal must now respect and acknowledge these identities," said Kathiravelu, of NTU.

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