Section 377A (Singapore)

Section 377A was a Singaporean law that criminalised sex between consenting adult males. It was introduced under British colonial rule in 1938 when it was added to the Penal Code by the colonial government. It remained a part of the Singapore body of law after the Penal Code review of 2007 which removed most of the other provisions in Section 377. It was subsequently repealed in its entirety in 2023.

Prior to the repeal, the law, while retained de jure in the Penal Code, had been for many years de facto unenforced – there had been no convictions for sex between consenting male adults in decades.^[1] While a small number of people were convicted under the section for private consensual acts between adults from 1988 until 2007, enforcement effectively ceased outright following the Penal Code review, despite the retention of section 377A from 2007 to 2022.^[2]^[3]^: 42–47

On 28 February 2022, the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Singapore reaffirmed that 377A could not be used to prosecute men for having gay sex.^[1] That same year, an Ipsos survey found that 44% of Singapore residents supported retaining the law, with 20% opposing it and the remaining 36% being ambivalent.^[4] On 21 August 2022, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced during the annual National Day Rally that the government intends to repeal Section 377A, effectively ending criminalisation both de facto and de jure.^[5]^[6] On 29 November 2022, the Parliament of Singapore passed a bill to repeal Section 377A.^[7] The bill was assented by President Halimah Yacob on 27 December 2022 and gazetted on 3 January 2023, and Section 377A was struck off the books.^[8]

^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference NFCOL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference strangio 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Sanders was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Tham, Yuen-C (16 June 2022). "Support for Section 377A drops as attitudes towards same-sex relationships shift, survey finds". The Straits Times. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
^ Ong, Justin (21 August 2022). "NDR 2022: Govt to repeal Section 377A, amend Constitution to protect marriage definition from legal challenges". TODAY. Singapore. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
^ Tham, Yuen-C (21 August 2022). "NDR 2022: Govt will repeal Section 377A, but also amend Constitution to protect marriage from legal challenges". The Straits Times. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
^ Cite error: The named reference StraitsRepealed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "S377A officially repealed after President Halimah gives assent to Bill". The Straits Times. 3 January 2023.

[NFCOL-1] Cite error: The named reference NFCOL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[strangio_2022-2] Cite error: The named reference strangio 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Sanders-3] Cite error: The named reference Sanders was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2022_survey-4] Tham, Yuen-C (16 June 2022). "Support for Section 377A drops as attitudes towards same-sex relationships shift, survey finds". The Straits Times. Retrieved 28 June 2022.

[:2-5] Ong, Justin (21 August 2022). "NDR 2022: Govt to repeal Section 377A, amend Constitution to protect marriage definition from legal challenges". TODAY. Singapore. Retrieved 21 August 2022.

[:3-6] Tham, Yuen-C (21 August 2022). "NDR 2022: Govt will repeal Section 377A, but also amend Constitution to protect marriage from legal challenges". The Straits Times. Retrieved 7 November 2022.

[StraitsRepealed-7] Cite error: The named reference StraitsRepealed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[8] "S377A officially repealed after President Halimah gives assent to Bill". The Straits Times. 3 January 2023.

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