Gay rights group releases scorecard grading S’pore politicians based on their views on LGBTQ issues

• Gay rights group looked at statements made by Singapore politicians in the last decade
• Report found all political parties unresponsive or non-committal on LGBTQ issues
• 35 of over 100 politicians have made statements on LGBTQ issues in the last 10 years

SINGAPORE — A lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and queer (LGBTQ) rights group here has put out a scorecard, grading Singapore politicians based on their views on LGBTQ issues.

The report, released on Wednesday (June 24) by Sayoni, looked at the statements made by Singapore politicians from 2011 to 2020 on social media, mainstream and independent news sites and the official written record of parliamentary proceedings, known as Hansard.

The group also reached out to the politicians for comments or updates on their positions on LGBTQ issues, such as their views on Section 377A, the law that criminalises sex between men, anti-discrimination legislation, and policies on gender marker change and transgender healthcare.

The politicians were then graded based on the following criteria:

• Engagement with LGBTQ groups

• Positive inclusion of LGBTQ issues in policies and law, and how consistent or frequent this is demonstrated

• Advocacy against discrimination or violence towards LGBTQ individuals

• Demonstration of awareness of the specific challenges that LGBTQ people face

The report — titled Rainbow Scorecard: Review of the Decade — found that all political parties in Singapore were unresponsive or non-committal when asked about their positions on LGBTQ issues.

It also listed the top and bottom five politicians on LGBTQ issues. These politicians come from various political parties in Singapore.

Of the 11 political parties that the group contacted, only the Workers’ Party (WP) responded.

In its response, the party referenced secretary-general Pritam Singh’s speech in 2019 to reiterate that it would not be calling for the repeal of Section 377A due to a lack of consensus within the party’s central executive committee.

As for how the individuals fared, the report found that politicians have largely differing views on LGBTQ issues, even within a single party.

Of the more than 100 politicians the group surveyed, only 35 have made statements on LGBTQ issues in the past decade.

Among these 35, the report categorised eight of them as “fence-sitters”, based on their statements.

It defined fence-sitters as those who:

• Made statements that do not take an explicit or decisive stance on issues on gay rights

• Cited discourse on prevailing social norms or the need for these norms to evolve over time

• Made statements that are vague or have “feel-good platitudes” that do not outline specific policy plans

Among the individuals described as fence-sitters are Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong.

THE A-GRADERS

These are ranked among the top five in the report, receiving an “A” grade.

Mr K Shanmugam, Law and Home Affairs Minister

Among other things, Mr Shanmugam has made various statements against the use of violence and discrimination against LGBTQ people and has engaged with LGBTQ organisations, such as transgender group the T Project, as recent as 2019.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, People’s Action Party (PAP)

Mr Tan has made statements emphasising the need to treat LGBTQ people with respect and compassion.

For example, in response to the leak of Singapore’s human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) registry, Mr Tan said on Facebook: “Whether you are for or against LGBT is irrelevant. For that matter, heterosexuals do contract HIV, too. So please don’t drag these issues into the fray.

“Treat our fellow humans as fellow humans, with dignity and respect, care and compassion.”

Professor Paul Tambyah, chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)

In an interview with media outlet Inconvenient Questions in 2015, Prof Tambyah said that SDP is “very clear” that Section 377A should be repealed.

“This is in line with the idea that there should be equality for all Singaporeans,” he said.

THE F-GRADERS

These ranked among the bottom five politicians in the report, receiving an “F” grade.

TODAY has reached out to the politicians for comment.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs

The report referred to an incident during the 2011 General Election when Dr Balakrishnan alleged that SDP was suppressing a video which showed then-SDP candidate Vincent Wijeysingha participating in a forum which discussed gay rights in Singapore.

Dr Balakrishnan was concerned that SDP had a possible “gay agenda”, should they be elected into Parliament.

Mr Faisal Manap, WP

Mr Faisal had shown support in 2014 for the Wear White campaign — a group that was formed to protest against LGBTQ rally Pink Dot and “defend traditional family values”.

Mr Faisal said: “I support the movement because it’s my responsibility to show concern for my fellow Muslims, asking them to do some introspection on whether what they’re doing is in accordance with Islamic values.”

Dr Lee Bee Wah, PAP

Among other things, Dr Lee had in 2019 filed a parliamentary question on a performance in Singapore by a group of drag queens from American reality television series Ru Paul’s Drag Race.

She asked how the authorities deal with the approval and censorship of performances dealing with LGBTQ issues and how age restrictions are determined for such performances.