Salt * Wet * Fish

Got this link from a post in SiGNeL today. Its quite interesting to see how our laws on homosexuality compares with the rest of the world. As we know it, many times the issue of decriminalising section 377 and/or 377a (also See article in wikipedia on this) is raised, our dear rulers would quickly quip that we are an Asian and conservative society and hence, its not good nor ready to do so. The “asian” card is always played because nobody actually bother to ask what is “asian”? Are we really that alike with the rest of Asia?

If we study the picture above, you can see that of all the 11 ASEAN countries only Malaysia, Singapore and Myanmar have laws penalising gay sex. What is common amongst these 3 countries is that they were former British colonies and adopted the old victorian penal code. Even Indonesia does not have such laws. So we ask that question again, what is this asian values that we talk about, when only 3 out of 11 countries have such laws?

If we look further into Asia, we can see that neither China, Korea nor Japan has such laws. Only India as a big Asian country has it and the reason again? Yes, its a former British colony.

So its not because of Asian values afterall, because if we were to adopt the majority Asian values, then we would decriminalise gay sex. Then what could it be?

If we then look at the broader pattern of law against gay sex, we can conclude in general that these countries have a tendency to be one or all of the following:
1) Islamic country (with strict Syriah laws, including stoning to death)
2) Under-developed and somewhat war-raged
3) Former British colony (adopting old victorian laws)
4) Strong Christian or Catholic influence (esp. in Africa continent)

I don’t think Singapore is under-developed or war-raged, but I suspect some Singaporean brains could be, looking at the ridiculous reasons they can give. Singapore is neither Islamic nor is the Catholic/Christian influence as strong as some African countries. However, some fundamentalist Christians who lost their war in American to penalise homosexuals in law, is trying to make people suffer here instead.

Thus it seems like the main reason is the old victorian law that our country’s law and somewhat value system is being-based. It not about us being asian afterall, rather our adopted victorian values. So stop telling us that we have Asian values and use that as a shield for your inability to come up with a better excuse.

Recently we got an email via PLU from a group called Gays and Lesbians United in Nigeria. This is a short excerpt from the letter (for more see Yawning Bread), which was what I was trying to point out partially in this post:

…homosexuality, is not a new phenomenon in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. It had existed in all cultures, tribes and nation from the beginning and was called many native names. Although pre- colonial African history is not written, there are surviving artifacts and folklores that give clues to homosexual practices in the past. From all accounts, lesbians and gays (homosexual women and men) were revered members of their societies and some played special roles. … Homosexuality is now seen as a western import, a sign of moral decadence and religious infidelity.

Most African countries were colonized by western powers. The colonialist introduced various anti- homosexual laws that have remained unchanged. Nigeria, a former British colony, inherited various anti-homosexual laws under Nigeria’s criminal code homosexual acts carry a jail term of 14 years; while a sentence of death by stoning is the penalty under Sharia law which applies to Muslim states. Many people have been charged with the offence at various times, although no court sentence has been carried out. However, these laws contribute to the climate of hate and intolerance prevalent in Nigerian societies….

Sidequote from Yawning Bread:
In the last few years, the world has seen a number of shocking penalties imposed for various sexual “offenses” in Nigeria. The Anglican archbishop of Nigeria has also made himself the chief opponent to inclusiveness in the worldwide Anglican Communion….