Tharman Shanmugaratnam's views on homosexuality

Tharman Shanmugaratnam is a former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP). He was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Taman Jurong division of Jurong GRC between 2001 and 2023. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister between 2011 and 2019, Minister for Finance between 2007 and 2015, Minister for Education between 2003 and 2008.

On 8 June 2023, Tharman announced his intention to run for the 2023 presidential election. Subsequently, he announced his scheduled resignation on 7 July 2023 from all his positions in the government and as a member of the PAP, as the presidency is a non-partisan office.

He has expressed his views on LGBT issues on several occasions. 

=Wear White campaign, 2014=

On Sunday, 22 June 2014, in response to questions from the media about the Wear White campaign launched by religious leader Noor Deros urging fellow Muslims to wear white on 28 June 2014 to protest against homosexuality and the Pink Dot event to be held at Hong Lim Park on the same day, then Deputy Prime Minister Tharman said: "All these matters, we just have to exercise a sense of balance and restraint, especially when it comes to matters that have to do with religion and personal preferences." He added that Singaporeans were "very moderate people" and he did not think the situation would escalate,,,.

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=Section 377A, 2018=

During the dialogue with Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam held on 25 October 2018 at the Institute of Policy Studies' 30th Anniversary Event, moderator Ambassador Tommy Koh pleaded for the Government to show more tolerance towards the gay community regarding the repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code and censorship.

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Tommy Koh: DPM, before I take questions from the audience, may I briefly mention another challenge, with the challenge of inequality, challenge of poverty, there is a new challenge in Singapore – this is the challenge of growing intolerance. A mutual friend of ours was recently invited by one of our religious organisations to speak at a conference on a secular topic. He accepted, prepared his paper and then he was disinvited. Why was he disinvited? Because he signed a petition to repeal the 377A. You know, we can disagree, but there is no need to demonise each other. And I would make also a plea to the government to show greater tolerance. I hope that going forward, the government will no longer ban movies, withdraw book grants. Let’s be big hearted. We have reached a stage of political and cultural maturity, where we could accommodate different points of view. It is a plea.

Tharman: No one should feel demonised in Singapore – (it is a) very diverse society, we have to respect each other and make sure that whatever our views on specific topics, there is a solid core of shared aspirations and beliefs that holds us together.

=Definition of marriage and changing social norms, 2023=

At an election meeting with registered guests from the public on the evening of 25 August 2023, some of the statements attendees were most interested to hear were his opinions regarding the LGBT community, such as the definition of marriage and changing social norms,.

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On the definition of marriage, Tharman touched on the recent repeal of Section 377A and said that it was a decision that went through years of "extensive consultations and deliberations". "And we did reiterate a commitment on the part of government and parliament to hold to the definition of marriage as between man and woman," he added. "Let me say that the reality is, we are not a society where there is a common view on this. In fact, we are a society where there are quite divided views on this issue. Even on 377A there used to be, but we brought it along, and we brought it along because everyone accepted eventually that we must love and respect each individual for who they are."

While Tharman voiced the importance of "never look[ing] down" on others, he also insisted on the need to consider "broader social norms". He pointed out that Singaporeans lived in a multi-cultural society with different views, depending on which faith and generation one belonged to. "But we should all accept that moving too quickly in shifting social norms is very likely to lead to a push back, people feeling provoked and leading to more dissension in society. So social norms have to evolve gradually, and they have to evolve at a tempo that will be decided by society in future generations."

"It is honestly too risky in a multi-religious society... We've got to respect everyone for who they are, but be very careful in how we evolve our social norms, because it's not just a matter of our individual views, but it's a matter of keeping society together," he added to explain why Singaporeans should not rush into shifting social norms. This doesn't mean that in the meantime, we "regress" or "disrespect" others, the presidential candidate clarified.

Tharman stressed that it was about helping people in Singapore feel that the "centre of norms, the centre of beliefs, [and] the centre of aspirations" was still "very strong". "Nothing is fixed forever, but be very careful and cautious in evolving social norms," he said. Tharman acknowledged that his position on the matter cannot and will not satisfy everyone. "But it is, in my view, the most sensible position to take to avoid society becoming more divided," he concluded. 

=See also=
 * Ng Kok Song's views on LGBT rights
 * Tan Kin Lian's views on homosexuality
 * Tommy Koh's views on homosexuality
 * Wear White
 * Singapore politicians' views on homosexuality

=References=
 * https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/handle-matters-religion-personal-preference-restraint-tharman
 * https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/be-big-hearted-avoid-dividing-society-dr-yaacob
 * https://mothership.sg/2014/06/tharman-vs-yaacob-both-issued-platitudes-about-the-online-campaign-to-wear-white-but-who-said-it-better/
 * https://mothership.sg/2023/08/same-sex-lgbt-marriage-tharman/

=Acknowledgements=

This article was written by Roy Tan.