Who says nobody can challenge Singapore's constitution? Local DJ Johnson Ong aka Big Kid has filed a court challenge against Section 377A, the law which criminalises consensual gay sex between men in Singapore.
Although a previous legal challenge in 2014 failed, Johnson Ong and his lawyer, Eugene Thuraisingam, will be presenting scientific and medical evidence to prove their point that sexual orientation is innate. If it is true, Section 377A may be deemed unconstitutional.
Singaporeans have been debating about whether or not to repeal Section 377A in the recent weeks after India's Supreme Court struck down a similar law in their country.
According to a viral post, it is bullshit if the Government claims that Section 377A is purely symbolic but not enforced. "Not enforcing the law but leaving it there for keepsakes creates the moral environment in which these people can enforce the law on the state's behalf: by censoring our media and our art, by deciding what books are not in the national interest, by governing sex education, by reporting people to the police at Pink Dot. They are far more creative, zealous, and far-reaching enforcers of homophobic law than the state could ever be...
I'm very angry that my elected officials have outsourced this debate to online echo chambers like this one instead of the parliament to which we've elected them. I'm very angry that the strongest opposition party we have has no real position on the subject."
So perhaps it's a good thing that someone dares to challenge it, regardless of the consequences. It is still a good start.
Credit to Joel Tan
