Archive of the PlanetOut article, “Singapore Poll Finds Tolerance” (23 May 2000)

Singapore Poll Finds Tolerance PlanetOut News Staff

Tuesday, May 23, 2000 / 11:35 PM

A survey by activists proves that the people are way ahead of the government, especially when it comes to the family value of unconditional love.

Sparked by a government official’s televised remarks a year-and-a-half ago that the status of homosexuality is “a question of what society considers acceptable,” a Singapore gay and lesbian group and their non-gay allies have carried out a first-of-its-kind survey there that demonstrates a high level of tolerance.

The public may be ahead of the government in judging what’s considered “acceptable”: a current government program called Singapore 21 is designed to increase participation in society bears the slogan “Everyone counts,” yet two-and-a-half weeks after applying for a public entertainment permit for a May 28 rally, there’s still been no response from police to the group People Like Us, which for three years has been denied official status.

In April and May, volunteers surveyed 251 Singaporeans on the streets of several different districts and another 240 online. While the survey announced May 22 is not entirely scientific, all respondents were at least 16 years old, and their distribution among Singapore’s major ethnic groups (Chinese, Malay and Indian) matches the national profile. The group estimates the margin of error at four to six percent. They described their findings as, “an important threshold providing a sense of where Singaporeans stand with respect to such issues. The findings here can be seen as ‘leading indicators’ to the way Singapore social opinion is likely to evolve in the years ahead.” First the poll inquired about acceptance of gay and lesbian family members. Among respondents on the street, 46% said they would accept a gay brother or lesbian sister although it might take some time, while 26% said they never could; 41% said they would accept a gay son or lesbian daughter, while 35% said they never could. Not surprisingly, Internet respondents were more liberal: 74% said they would accept a gay brother or lesbian sister, while 9% said they never could; 66% said they would accept a gay son or lesbian daughter, while 13% said they never could. The group’s interpretation was that, “Singaporeans appear to be pragmatic about the issue. These findings suggest that they value family ties highly enough to accommodate gay siblings and children within the fold.”

Then respondents were asked about employment discrimination against gays and lesbians. It was opposed by 74% of those on the street and 83% of those online.

Finally, the survey asked about the current “crimes against nature” law, which most other former British colonies have long since repealed but which in Singapore prescribes punishments as harsh as life imprisonment. Recently a heterosexual male was convicted of sodomy against his former girlfriend, but acts between two women have never been prosecuted. Specifically, respondents were asked if they believed that oral sex between homosexual adults in private should be restricted. Restrictions were opposed by 39% of those interviewed on the street and supported by 29%. Among Internet respondents, fully 78% opposed restrictions and only 16% supported them.

People Like Us spokesperson Alex Au, 47, told the South China Morning Post that, “I am not surprised. In coming out, I have met nothing but friendliness and open-mindedness.” His group attempts to represent the interests of what it estimates to be “some 150,000 to 300,000 Singaporeans who feel alienated from the state” on issues of sexuality, and he remarked to Agence France Presse, “How do we expect gay Singaporeans to feel passionate about Singapore if they perceive that they suffer discrimination, legal and social, in this country?” Earlier Au observed in a statement that, “In the thinking cosmopolitan society Singapore aspires to be, the gay issue cannot be brushed aside.” But it can and has been suppressed in the media by the highly censorious national government, including the recent kiss between two women on Ally McBeal.

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This article was first archived by Davestar on SiGNeL:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/signel/message/643