It was reported on radio and Today newspaper that half of Singapore youths considered homosexuality acceptable. This came out of a survey of 800 individuals aged 15 - 29, conducted by the Singapore Polytechnic. A more detailed breakdown was reported by morning radio, which said that 44% of male respondents and 57% of female respondents were of this view.

Channel NewsAsia quoted an unnamed youth saying, “To youths, it’s common knowledge that homosexuals exist in Singapore. In fact, if you ask any youth, he’ll say that he knows at least one homosexual friend.” [Source: CNA, 17 Jan 2007, Half of Singaporean youths think premarital sex is okay: survey]

This is not a new phenomenon. One of the findings from the government’s Social Attitudes Survey 2001 (SAS 2001) was that 71% of Singaporeans under the age of 30 considered homosexuality unacceptable. On that occasion, Channel NewAsia reported on their TV news that “one third of Singaporeans under 30 found homosexuality acceptable.”

That, six years on, the percentage of young Singaporeans comfortable with the idea of homosexual orientation in others has grown should be no surprise.

Once again, this raises the question of the growing gap between the government’s position and emerging social attitudes. As recently as November 2006, the government reiterated its intention to retain Section 377A in the Penal Code, criminalising “gross indecency” between males, explaining thir position thus: “Singapore remains, by and large, a conservative society. Many do not tolerate homosexuality, and consider such acts abhorrent and deviant. Many religious groups also do not condone homosexual acts.”

While there are conservative-minded people in Singapore, as in any society, it is hardly as overwhelming a majority as it is made out to be, and as the latest survey demonstrates, it has ceased to be a majority among Singaporeans under 30.

In any case, such arguments as to whether homosexuality is “acceptable” ignores the larger considerations of civil rights, invasion of privacy and freedom from religion, which People Like Us has pointed out previously.

People Like Us once again urges the government to reconsider their attempt to promote homophobic conservatism through law and censorship, especially since the latest survey findings point out the weakness of the social justification they rely on.