Home sweet homo : transnational connections in a Singaporean queer activist movement

Abstract

When the Indian Supreme Court made the landmark decision in 2018 to decriminalize consensual, homosexual acts, queer activists in Singapore sought to achieve the same by calling for the repeal of Section 377A of the penal code. The explicit challenge to the existing laws is a far cry from the Singaporean queer experience in the late 1900s, where gay men were actively being prosecuted. This thesis seeks to understand not only the reasons for the staunch retention of Section 377A in a city-state where the queer community is no longer under threat of prosecution, but also the ways that queer activism has evolved in response to the changing rules of government. Thus, this paper first argues that in retaining S377A as a tool to distance itself from the idea of a sexually liberal “West” and keep the “threat” of homosexuality at bay, the Singaporean government has constructed a social norm that discriminates against anyone outside of the heteronormative. In response to this, this paper then argues queer activists continuously draw on connections and ideas beyond Singapore’s borders in order to gain access to the resources, information, and ideas necessary to exercise agency and contend for a more inclusive Singapore.