Lee Kuan Yew’s interviews on Gay Rights
Old video clips featuring the late Lee Kuan Yew candidly sharing his views on LGBTQ+ rights, gay adoption and Section 377A has been making its rounds on the internet.
Lee, who spoke about a hypothetical “intolerant cabinet”, stated that it would only be a matter of time before homosexuality is accepted in Singapore.
Since the time of the interview, which was filmed more than a decade ago, Lee Kuan Yew’s grandson, Li Huanwu, married his boyfriend. The same-sex couple, together with their families, also attended Pink Dot, the annual protest for gay rights in Singapore, in 2019.
While progress has been made in private spheres, the position in the public sphere remains largely unchanged since the time of Lee Kuan Yew’s interview in 2011.
With the renewed interest in Section 377A, a colonial relic that criminalises consensual homosexual sex between men, the time is ripe to revisit what Singapore’s first Prime Minister thought about the issue.
“It is not a lifestyle or matter of choice” – Lee Kuan Yew
When asked for his personal views on being gay, Lee Kuan Yew expressly rejected the notion that being gay was “a lifestyle”.
Having perused the books and articles on the issue, Lee was of the view that literature on the subject points to a genetic difference between gays and straight people. Even before the phrase was popularised by Lady Gaga, Lee asserted that gays are “born that way”.
He argued that, if 2 men or 2 women are that way, we should “just leave them alone”.
In his interview, Lee makes reference to Dr Vivian Balakrishnan’s views that the science on the matter “was not decisively proven”. However, Lee took a different view.
“Vivian Balakrishnan says it’s not decisively proven. Well, I believe it is. There’s enough evidence that some people are that way and just leave them be.”
Vivian Balakrishnan and the Gay Agenda incident in GE 2011
In the lead up to the 2011 General Elections, Vivian Balakrishnan, the PAP anchor Minister for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, questioned the “agenda” of Dr Vincent Wijeysingha and the Singapore Democratic Party team who contested the constituency.
The press release fronted by all 4 PAP candidates is reproduced below in its entirety. For context, the video in question feauted lawyer M Ravi speaking of Vincent Wijeysingha as potentially the “first gay MP”. A few seconds later, we hear Dr Wijeysingha saying: “Can I answer that question? I don’t think it’s for Ravi by himself to rally the gay community. I think the gay community has to rally ourselves”.
Dear Friends of the Media
Please find below a statement which is being sent on behalf of the PAP team contesting in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC. We would appreciate it very much if you could kindly publish the statement in full, and attribute it to the PAP team contesting in the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, led by Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Kindly call me at [phone number deleted] if you have any queries or if you need any clarification.
What is his agenda?
A video has been posted on the internet showing Vincent Wijeysingha participating at a forum which discussed the promotion of the gay cause in Singapore.
The discussion at the forum also touched on sex with boys and whether the age of consent for boys should be 14 years of age.
In the video, Wijeysingha was introduced as being from the SDP.
In addition to other comments, Wijeysingha stated: ‘I think the gay community has to rally ourselves. Perhaps one outcome of today’s forum would be, for those of us who are interested, to come together to further consider how we can address the 377 issue as well as further rights issues in relation to gays and lesbians.’
We believe that candidates should be upfront about their political agenda and motives, so that voters are able to make an informed choice.
The issue is not Wijeysingha’s sexual orientation. That is a matter for him.
The video raises the question on whether Wijeysingha will now pursue this cause in the political arena and what is the SDP’s position on the matter.
Vivian Balakrishnan
Liang Eng Hwa
Christopher de Souza
Sim Ann
Despite the smear campaign, Dr Wijeysingha and his team won 39.90% of the votes in his first electoral outing. This is a feat that has yet to be matched by subsequent opposition candidates in GE 2015 and GE 2020. Dr Wijeysingha also impressed many with his oratorical skills and his performance during a televised debate with then Minister for Finance, Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
In 2019, Minister Vivian referred to Section 377A an “old law” inherited from the British, and reiterated the Government’s position that the privacy of consenting adults in the bedroom is respected.
Dr Vincent Wijeysingha has been a a fearless and consistent advocate of LGBT rights and a supporter of Pink Dot SG for more than a decade.
Lee Kuan Yew on Gay Adoption
Turning to the issue of gay adoption, which he acknowledged will only become a live issue after gay marriage is legalised, Lee wondered “who’s going to look after the child?”. He said that we should cross that bridge when we come to it.
In Parliament on 9 May 2022, during the Second Reading of the Adoption of Children Bill, the Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli made clear that
the government does not encourage planned and deliberate single parenthood as a lifestyle choice. Singapore’s public policy continues to be one which encourages parenthood within marriage.
For avoidance of doubt, the Minister also made it clear that same-sex couples who are legally married overseas cannot adopt in Singapore.
“This means that only a man and a woman married to each other can apply together. This is because Singapore’s marriage law only allows a man and woman to marry each other.”
Masagos: Govt does not support “formation of same-sex families” and “deliberate single parenthood”
What if your grandchildren were gay?
When Lee was asked how he would react if one of his grandchildren was gay, Lee shrugged his shoulders and said “That’s life”.
He cited the example of Dick Cheney, who loved his gay daughter despite his personal views on homosexuality.
You may watch the full 2-minute clip here:-
@sgviralvids Lee Kuan Yew on LGBT Rights in Singapore #singapore #leekuanyew #lgbt #377a #repeal377a #pinkdotsg #sgtiktok #sgviral #sgtiktok🇸🇬
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