{"id":33,"date":"2023-05-16T18:17:59","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T18:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2023\/?p=33"},"modified":"2024-01-16T22:54:11","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T22:54:11","slug":"a-slippery-road-of-no-return-singapores-lgbtq-community-dares-to-speak-its-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shoeleathermagazine.com\/2023\/a-slippery-road-of-no-return-singapores-lgbtq-community-dares-to-speak-its-name\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA Slippery Road of No Return\u201d: Singapore\u2019s LGBTQ+ Community Dares to Speak Its Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

They Are Different<\/span><\/p>\n

Roy Tan\u2019s ears would prick up only twice in his life: once for love and once for history.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tan, 65, first noticed his attraction to men in the changing room at the Royal Selangor Golf Club in \u00adKuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was five years old at the time, and his parents would often take him there to accompany them to the swimming pool. Tan\u2014who hoards clothes and books, but information the best\u2014remembers the men there. The shapes of their bodies. The way their muscles dipped and curved in ways that were yet to draw breath on his own prepubescent form.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was fascinated by them. And it is only in hindsight that he realizes he was awakened by them, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until Tan hit puberty, and began to enter heterosexual relationships, that he noticed he did not feel the same attraction to the opposite sex. Tan\u2019s relationships with his girlfriends paled in comparison to the attachments he had with his best friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beginning in primary school, Tan had a string of intimate relationships with male classmates whom he referred to as his best friends. They would experiment with each other\u2019s bodies and forge connections that were far deeper than the ones he would have with his girlfriends.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there always seemed to be an hourglass flipping over on the horizon of each of these friendships, and when it came time for everyone to leave for university, Tan had nobody. Worse, he had nowhere to go. \u201cI felt really lonely at that time,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI thought I was the only homosexual that could accept themselves in Singapore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There was no internet yet. No website or database where he could find other members of the gay community in Singapore. There was scarcely a trace of homosexual life in newspapers until 1972 when the <\/span>New Nation<\/span><\/i>, an evening newspaper at the time, <\/span>published<\/span><\/a> a groundbreaking series of articles titled \u201cTHEY ARE DIFFERENT\u2026\u201d on the LGBTQ+ community in Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n

A major discovery is that there are more gay people in Singapore than we realized. Friends, acquaintances, public figures, teachers, lawyers, admen, clerks, blue-collar workers, students, artists, secret society toughs, waiters, people not normally suspected of being inclined in this way are among those we found to be gay.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the feature was published on four consecutive days and relied on months of investigative reporting, the names of the cruising venues frequented by its subjects were omitted. A strange sensation swept over Tan that last week of July. Here he was, with evidence that another world existed in the country where homosexuality was still considered a crime.<\/span><\/p>\n

And he had no knowledge of how to get there.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was only several years later when an article published in <\/span>The Straits Times <\/span><\/i>caught Tan\u2019s eye. The article detailed a complaint against young boys holding hands in Hong Lim Park.<\/span> \u201cI met my first boyfriend ever in the gay community at the foot of a now-demolished shopping center on the fringe of Hong Lim Park,\u201d Tan says.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was the one who introduced Tan to the world he had only read about before. They went to every gay venue together, one by one. It was then that Tan started to create a map. A trail of every newspaper clipping he could find. The court cases that were tried under anti-LGBTQ+ colonial legislation, milestones along the way, and all the notable figures under which he himself would soon fall under. This half-timeline, half-encyclopedia would soon be digitized and deemed the most comprehensive account of Singapore\u2019s LGBTQ+ community ever created.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Singapore LGBT Encyclopedia Wiki<\/span><\/a> was born out of Tan\u2019s efforts to, as it says, \u201cintegrate all the disparate sources of information on Singapore\u2019s LGBT community into one convenient site.\u201d As of May 2023, there are over 3,880 pages of LGBT-related content such as \u201cBugis Street: transgender aspects,\u201d \u201cSingapore gay censorship,\u201d and \u201cRascals incident (Singapore\u2019s Stonewall).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tan would go on to organize Singapore\u2019s first pride parade in Hong Lim Park in 2008\u2014<\/span>Speakers\u2019 Corner<\/span><\/a> remains the only outdoor area in Singapore where citizens are allowed to hold public speeches, performances, and exhibitions without a license\u2014and march in the first, and only, LGBTQ+ contingent in the Chingay Parade in 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

That year, the People\u2019s Association revoked the rule that participants needed to be vetted before marching in the annual Chingay Parade. Tan\u2019s ears pricked up again.<\/span><\/p>\n

He knew he only had one chance to do something revolutionary. And so Tan and fellow Singaporean citizen \u200b\u200bTien Kim Chuan, dressed in pink sequined shirts and feather boas, hoisted a large rainbow flag up in the air and walked right past Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Look at those two strutting their stuff,\u2019\u201d Tan muses. \u201cIt was an exhilarating experience for me.\u201d Currently, 13 years after Tan\u2019s march, there remains a ban on groups parading without prior vetting and approval.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Roy
Roy Tan marching in the first LGBTQ+ Chingay contingent in 2010. Photo courtesy of Roy Tan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tan admits that he will probably never be finished uploading to the site all the information that he has amassed over his lifetime, most of which was directly witnessed by him. \u201cThe history of the LGBT community in Singapore runs parallel to the history of my own life,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt was my life story and how I discovered my true self and people like me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tan retired from a career as a doctor in 2018 and after a lifetime of LGBTQ+ activism work, the then-61-year-old decided to set his sights on something bigger: the repeal of Section 377A.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Slippery Road…<\/p>\n

Section 377A of the Singapore Penal Code is a colonial-era law that <\/span>states<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Section 377A was <\/span>introduced<\/span><\/a> in Singapore during British colonial rule in 1938, and despite numerous attempts at challenging its place in the constitution by LGBTQ+ rights activists as well as Prime Minister Lee <\/span>declaring<\/span><\/a> that the law was not \u201cproactively enforce[d]\u201d in 2007, Section 377A was not officially repealed until December 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tan had wanted to challenge Section 377A since the 1990s when the Singapore police grew increasingly violent and persistent in cracking down on gay men and utilizing Section 377A to charge them in court. But it wasn\u2019t until 2010 when he attended a meeting hosted in a pub along Boat Quay by human rights lawyer Ravi Madasamy that Tan knew he had a case.<\/span><\/p>\n

The attorney, better known as M. Ravi, told the crowd of longtime LGBTQ+ rights activists that he wanted to challenge Section 377A on behalf of his friend Tan Eng Hong who had been prosecuted earlier that year for having oral sex in a locked cubicle of a public restroom at CityLink Mall.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the activists wanted to turn away. They were completely unsupportive of Ravi,\u201d Roy Tan recalled. \u201cThey said if you want to challenge Section 377A in court, you shouldn’t do it with a toilet sex case, but\u2026 I was thoroughly convinced.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Roy
Roy Tan and his lawyer M. Ravi before their Section 377A constitutional challenge. Photo courtesy of Roy Tan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although Tan Eng Hong\u2019s case eventually got dismissed, this \u201ctoilet sex case\u201d became instrumental in paving the way for subsequent constitutional challenges against Section 377A by highlighting the contradictions that existed within the legal system.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019, Ravi and Roy Tan launched another constitutional challenge against Section 377A. Fueled by India\u2019s <\/span>decriminalization of gay sex<\/span><\/a> in 2018 and what Tan <\/span>described<\/span><\/a> as \u201cnovel arguments,\u201d their new case focused on the incongruities that existed between the Criminal Procedure Code and the Penal Code.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[The law] subjects gay men to the potential distress of an investigation into private conduct where they have a legitimate expectation that the state will decline to prosecute,\u201d Tan said in a <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a> to the press at the time. \u201cIt represents not only a contradiction between the Public Prosecutor’s prosecutorial discretion and the non-discretionary carriage of criminal justice on the ground but is also a restriction on their personal liberty.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The High Court pronounced Section 377A unenforceable in its entirety. On August 21, 2022, Prime Minister Lee announced during a National Day Rally speech that Section 377A would be repealed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNobody saw it coming except Ravi,\u201d Tan remarks. \u201cWe owe a lot to Ravi.\u201d<\/span>The general public was divided<\/a> over news of its impending repeal, with proponents of the repeal arguing for \u201cliberty\u201d and \u201cequality\u201d and opponents cautioning against the supposedly Western ideology and its \u201chomosexual agenda.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Singapore’s Stonewall<\/p>\n

Isaac Tng\u2019s LGBTQ+ walking history tour starts near the Elgin Bridge along the Singapore River, where immigrants from all over the world once arrived on its banks. It makes a stop at the former site of Singapore\u2019s first gay sauna, and it passes through Hong Lim Park\u2014to commemorate the words Tan shouted into the megaphone all those years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tng, 34, developed the idea of leading Singapore\u2019s first LGBTQ+ walking history tour when he was on a bar crawl in Tokyo, Japan. Tng, who is one of the founders of <\/span>Pridecommunity<\/span><\/a>, an LGBTQ+ pride organization dedicated to transcending boundaries within the queer community, wanted to educate Singaporeans about their own country\u2019s queer history by taking them around the island to explore historically LGBTQ+ sites.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this misconception that queerness comes from the Americans and Europeans, that out of nowhere, maybe in the 1950s or \u201860s, sprouted out this movement brought about by Westerners and this whole gay culture started in Singapore,\u201d Tng explains. \u201cThat\u2019s not how it happened.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaac Tng leads a tour group through hidden alleyways. Photo courtesy of Isaac Tng.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tng attributes part of the spread of this misconception to a lack of access that people have to information about Singapore\u2019s LGBTQ+ history. He points to the \u201cvery curated\u201d national education in local Singaporean schools as well as the largely unwritten or hidden queer history in textbooks. The most common question that he receives on these walking history tours is how queerness came to Singapore when in actuality, \u201cSingapore is one of the places where LGBTQ+ movements and queerness started in Southeast Asia.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sida Chu, 20, remembers gazing up at the figure of Guan Yin when she was younger. Chu, a Permanent Resident of Singapore and a current undergraduate student at Wesleyan University, has been well-acquainted with the Buddhist bodhisattva for years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bodhisattvas<\/span><\/a> are enlightened beings who delay achieving nirvana in order to dedicate their lives to eradicating the suffering of all. Guan Yin is one of the most well-known bodhisattvas, transcending gender identification and taking on any form necessary to assist those in need. She or he is characterized as a person with the power to look as either a man or a woman, or as a mythical being who was once a male but is now a woman.<\/span><\/p>\n

They are how Chu is certain that she, too, is a woman.<\/span><\/p>\n

Evidence of queerness is not only prevalent in Chinese culture but in indigenous Malay and Hindu cultures as well, with each ethnic group engaging in fluid explorations of gender and sexuality. Singapore is home to an inherent cultural diversity due to the country\u2019s status as a migrant state. <\/span>Comprised mostly<\/span><\/a> of Chinese, Indian, Malay, Eurasian, and Peranakan communities, it may be the most religiously diverse country in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Queerness is] very prominent in Asian cultures and we should take ownership of it,\u201d Chu asserts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
A statue of the Buddhist bodhisattva Guan Yin. Photo courtesy of Molly Des Jardin on Flickr<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The LGBTQ+ walking history tour leads its participants chronologically from the 1800s to today. It\u2019s presented as a modern retelling of history, interwoven with personal stories. It informs Singaporeans about the different prejudices and challenges that the LGBTQ+ community had to face over time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tng says that people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations, and races take his walking history tour and that it always manages to astonish him when an older member of the tour group shares their own encounters with the darker sides of Singapore\u2019s LGBTQ+ history. \u201cYou realize there was a lot more that happened than what was published in the papers,\u201d he says. People who lived through two major LGBTQ+ events that occurred in 1993\u2014the Rascals Incident and the Tanjong Rhu Entrapment Exercise\u2014have been among those toured by Tng.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rascals Incident<\/span><\/a>, which has been referred to as Singapore\u2019s Stonewall, occurred on May 30, 1993, when the police raided the Rascals nightclub on a Sunday, which was known as gay night. Many club patrons were interrogated and those that did not have their National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) were subsequently detained. It was later revealed that these police officers had no legal right to detain anyone without an NRIC, and their acting commander issued an apology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tanjong Rhu<\/span><\/a> was a popular gay cruising spot in Singapore and throughout the 1990s, it was the scene of multiple police entrapments targeting the homosexual community. Police officers would pose as cruisers in order to lure gay men into making physical contact. Once physical contact was made, these officers would charge the men with \u201coutraging their victim\u2019s modesty.\u201d Sometimes, it was the officers themselves who made the propositions. In November 1993, a police entrapment exercise led to the arrest and caning of 12 men, and jail sentences ranging from two to six months.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt always surprises me,\u201d Tng says. \u201cHow they chose not to crumble under this kind of prejudice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tng had his own encounters with prejudice and bigotry while training to get his license as a tour guide. He recounted instances where his classmates would make homophobic comments about the queer community to a point Tng describes as \u201cridiculous.\u201d However, these remarks simply served to motivate him further, making all subsequent acts of compassion all the more sincere.<\/span><\/p>\n

He remembers when a mother and her 12-year-old daughter came on the walking tour together. \u201cParents have been known to dismiss [their child\u2019s] sexuality,\u201d he says. \u201cThey say it\u2019s just a phase.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But the mother in this instance brought her daughter on the tour with the intention of letting her \u201cexplore herself and come to understand\u201d her queerness. Having been raised in a conservative Chinese background, this was an act that deeply moved Tng.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026of No Return<\/span><\/p>\n

The repeal of Section 377A was first <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> on August 21, 2022, during a National Day Rally speech, with Prime Minister Lee stating that it was the \u201cright thing to do.\u201d He declared, \u201cThis will bring the law into line with current social mores, and I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, as Prime Minister Lee was announcing the news on live television, he <\/span>made a vow<\/span><\/a> to religious conservatives to \u201cuphold and safeguard the institution of marriage\u201d as it is traditionally defined between a man and a woman.<\/span><\/p>\n

This addendum may have stemmed from the \u201cProtect Singapore Townhall \u2014 Safeguarding Our Future\u201d event that was held a few weeks before the repeal of 377A, during which the majority religious audience <\/span>argued<\/span><\/a> against the repeal and called for stricter language in the constitution to preserve heterosexual marriages. This event, which garnered over 1200 attendees, featured an interfaith panel <\/span>dedicated<\/span><\/a> \u201cto protect[ing] the traditional definition of marriage and family.<\/span><\/p>\n

Event organizers Jason Wong, a former board member and chairman of the Christian organization Focus on the Family, and Mohamed Khair Mohamed Noor, the executive chairman of a Muslim marriage preparation course program called the SuChi Success Initiatives, <\/span>posted<\/span><\/a> summaries of their meeting on Facebook. They wrote: \u201cWe urge the Government to maintain the current political package and not to repeal Section 377A unless and until there are adequate safeguards for our marriages, families, and freedom of conscience\u2026 This includes enshrining man-woman marriage in the Constitution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore expressed agreement with the call for a traditional definition of marriage, <\/span>releasing a statement<\/span><\/a> that warned against the repeal of 377A without such a safeguard. \u201cOtherwise, we will be taking a slippery road of no return, weakening the fabric of a strong society which is founded on the bedrock of holistic families and marriages,\u201d it read.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shanmugam Kasiviswanathan, better known as K. Shanmugam, Singapore\u2019s Minister for Home Affairs and Law, <\/span>commented<\/span><\/a> in parliament in November 2022 that the government \u201cwill try and maintain a balance\u2026 to uphold a stable society with traditional, heterosexual family values, but with space for homosexuals to live their lives and contribute to society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This cautious act of balancing polar opposite sides of Singaporean society, and being overtly careful not to favor one group over another, stretches far beyond the government\u2019s treatment of the LGBTQ+ community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rhys Ting, 33, a member of <\/span>IndigNation<\/span><\/a>, Singapore\u2019s \u201cmonth-long festival of queer activism and culture,\u201d cites a similar rationale behind the country\u2019s attitudes towards prostitution, gambling, and chewing gum\u2014all of which are strictly outlined by laws that are largely unenforced.<\/span><\/p>\n

The reason behind this balancing act, Ting claims, is money.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the government\u2019s point of view, they know that having a queer community is good for business. It\u2019s good for investments. And that\u2019s why you have companies like Facebook and Google and TikTok having their Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore.\u201d He continues, \u201cThe flip side is that the government has to weigh the vested interests of the religious community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In his seminal book from 2002, <\/span>The Rise of the Creative Class<\/span><\/i>, American sociologist Richard Florida <\/span>argues<\/span><\/a> that greater economic development can be seen in metropolitan areas with high concentrations of \u201chigh bohemians,\u201d artists, musicians, lesbians, and gay men. \u201cIt means businesses will treat that country as if it\u2019s progressive,\u201d Ting explains. \u201cSo the [Singapore] government knows they can\u2019t kick out queer people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the power of <\/span>the pink dollar<\/span><\/a>, the government makes sure to keep an eye on what the LGBTQ+ community in Singapore has to say, with Ting mentioning that \u201cthe government usually sends spies from the Internal Security Act\u201d to attend IndigNation\u2019s public panels addressing the rights and concerns of queer people. \u201cThere will be plain-clothed civil servants sitting in the audience looking completely out of place,\u201d he says. \u201cIt contributes to people not feeling safe in these physical spaces.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ting has been a part of IndigNation\u2019s core team since 2018. IndigNation began in 2005 as a response to the government\u2019s ban on \u201cNation parties.\u201d Nation parties, playfully <\/span>dubbed<\/span><\/a> Singapore\u2019s \u201ccoming out\u201d parties, were organized annually by LGBTQ+ web portal <\/span>Fridae<\/span><\/a> from 2001 to 2004 on the eve of August 8 to coincide with the country\u2019s National Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

These LGBTQ+ Nation parties <\/span>grew<\/span><\/a> from attracting 1500 attendees in its first year to over 8000 people in its last, 40% of whom were international visitors traveling to Singapore from countries such as Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, and the United States, with the sole purpose of attending these festivities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though Nation parties generated up to 6 million SGD in tourist revenue, they were soon banned from being held in Singapore, with officials <\/span>citing<\/span><\/a> the transmission of HIV and the country\u2019s significant conservative population as reasons for its termination.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe government was just concerned that it was destroying family values,\u201d Ting said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In December 2004, the licensing division of the Singapore Police sent a rejection letter in response to Fridae\u2019s application to host its next Nation party, <\/span>calling<\/span><\/a> the festival \u201ccontrary to public interest\u201d and \u201cagainst the moral values of a large majority of Singaporeans.\u201d Prime Minister Lee <\/span>affirmed<\/span><\/a> that the decision reflected \u201cbalance and judgement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ting explains that IndigNation was born out of this ban and its main goal has always been to create a safe space for members of the queer community to congregate and gather together. In addition to the annual pride season held every August, IndigNation hosts public panels, workshops, and discussions like their <\/span>\u201cBeyond Repeal\u201d<\/span><\/a> conference in March 2023, featuring talks from prominent LGBTQ+ rights activists.<\/span><\/p>\n

The scope of LGBTQ+ rights activism in Singapore is a major point of contention among queer activist groups in recent years. Smaller, more targeted LGBTQ+ rights activist groups criticize bigger groups for not being inclusive to all members of the LGBTQ+ community, while well-established pride groups such as Pink Dot SG<\/a> work to appeal to the masses and people outside of the queer community.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pink
Pink Dot SG celebration at Hong Lim Park in 2014. Photo courtesy of Jnzl’s Photos on Flickr<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pink Dot SG, also known simply as Pink Dot, is the host of Singapore\u2019s biggest annual LGBTQ+ event and <\/span>characterizes<\/span><\/a> itself as \u201ca group for everyone, straight and gay, who support the belief that everyone deserves the freedom to love.\u201d Because of their aim toward broad appeal, Pink Dot has been accused by LGBTQ+ rights activists and queer Singaporeans of neglecting more pertinent issues relating to the community. (Pink Dot SG declined to be interviewed for this article.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I think Pink Dot is more for straight allies and there is a lot of corporate sponsorship,\u201d Ting says. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily for the queer community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Critics of Pink Dot have expressed particular disapproval of its failure to sufficiently represent the transgender community in Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Earth Will Cook Us Alive Faster<\/span><\/p>\n

Note: asterisk indicates name and age change for safety.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Mei Li*, 19, looks out of place in the bedroom where she has lived since childhood. The walls, once adorned with glossy posters from her favorite independent films, have now been painted white. The name of this hue\u2014Winter Mood\u2014assumes a paradoxical role in the land of the eternal summer, but nevertheless performs its duty of erasing the vestiges of the girl who once lived there.<\/span><\/p>\n

A lone suitcase stands in the corner of the room, its handle extended and ready to be led off to a different fate. Tonight is the last day of a past life. In a few hours, Li will leave for university and never set foot in this house again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Li began questioning her gender identity and sexuality when she was 11 years old. She was enrolled at a local Singaporean school at the time, and virtually stopped attending class when she grew more certain that she could not adhere to the heteronormative codes that guided most of her teachers and peers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The local school system in Singapore has <\/span>received criticism<\/span><\/a> over the years for \u201csuppressing, erasing, and bullying\u201d members of the LGBTQ+ community. As recently as last summer, presentation slides from a sex education assembly at Hwa Chong Institution <\/span>surfaced online<\/span><\/a> for anti-LGBTQ+ claims such as \u201c58% of homosexuals have problems with intestinal worms\u201d and \u201cone in 15 homosexuals is a pedophile.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More serious accusations of an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda alleged the Ministry of Education\u2019s (MOE) interference with and blocking of students undergoing hormone replacement therapy. In January 2021, a student under the name of \u201cAshlee\u201d detailed in a <\/span>viral Reddit post<\/span><\/a> how she was \u201cthreatened with expulsion should any physiological changes take place that prevent her from wearing the uniform for boys.\u201d The school reportedly also asked for her hair to be cut.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ashlee\u2019s <\/span>allegations<\/span><\/a> sparked public outrage, with hundreds of teachers, psychologists, counselors, and social workers signing an online petition demanding the implementation of trans-friendly policies. An unpermitted protest ensued outside the MOE building, with demonstrators holding signs that read \u201c#FixSchoolsNotStudents\u201d and \u201cTrans students will not be erased.\u201d A few of them were arrested within half an hour.<\/span><\/p>\n

The MOE has<\/span> denied<\/span><\/a> these claims, writing in a 2021 Facebook post: \u201cWe are not in a position to interfere with any medical treatment, which is a matter for the family to decide on.\u201d Despite this, it has grown progressively difficult for transgender individuals in Singapore to obtain access to gender-affirming health care.<\/span><\/p>\n

Li wanted to undergo hormone replacement therapy when she was 18 years old. And even though she met the minimum age requirement to start HRT, Singaporean law dictates that anyone under 21 that wishes to start HRT must secure consent from both parents\u2014something that Li did not have.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Singapore, you basically don\u2019t have any rights to your body until you are 21,\u201d Li says. Parental consent is not only needed for gender-affirming health care but also for undergoing urgent medical procedures such as computerized tomography (CT) scans as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that didn\u2019t stop her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Li began to find other, illicit means of procuring hormone pills. She recalls asking around on anonymous forums online and perusing unofficial websites that advertised hormone pills for a third of their market price. Eventually, Li was able to get the pills \u201cfrom a friend of a friend whose neighbor used to work in a pharmacy overseas,\u201d but many transgender teens who are unable to safely undergo HRT are forced to consume these black market products.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Black market] pills are usually safe if you know where to get them from and you check the packaging,\u201d Li says. \u201cIt\u2019s black market injectable estrogen that\u2019s really unsafe.\u201d Based on a <\/span>2018 study<\/span><\/a> published in the National Library of Medicine, \u201cProvider experience suggests that black market injectable estrogen is often diluted or laced with other potentially harmful ingredients.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The lack of up-to-date information on the internet about undergoing HRT without medical supervision led Li to join online groups with other members of the trans community in Singapore. It was through these servers that Li learned how to monitor her body\u2019s levels of prolactin\u2014a <\/span>hormone<\/span><\/a> responsible for lactation and breast tissue development\u2014and know that if it ever climbs too high, she risks developing a brain tumor.<\/span><\/p>\n

The online groups also provided links to websites that disclosed the names of trans-friendly doctors in Singapore who would help trans men and trans women acquire a diagnosis of <\/span>gender dysphoria<\/span><\/a>, that in turn can lead to a possible exemption from National Service (NS) conscription. (Singapore mandates a two-year National Service for all male citizens and permanent residents.)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other than that, most information about trans health care in Singapore comes through word of mouth. This is largely due to risks that doctors face of demotions and unemployment, as well as sweeping fear of the government placing further restrictions on the trans community\u2019s already-diminishing access to health care.<\/span><\/p>\n

Li claims that there is currently a \u201csoft ban\u201d on gender-affirming surgeries, including orchiectomies, the removal of testicles.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t get it at any hospital in Singapore except one and the waiting time of the entire process is a year at the very least,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Undergoing full gender-affirming surgery, also known as sex reassignment surgery, is the only way in which someone in Singapore can apply to have their gender marker changed on official documents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Li goes on to assert that hospitals are more than capable of executing these procedures, adding, \u201cIf you\u2019re a cis man and you have testicular cancer, they schedule it for you in a couple of weeks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t always this way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keeshan \u201cShan\u201d Menon, 37, a transgender social worker, activist, and the lead peer counselor at <\/span>The T Project<\/span><\/a>, Singapore\u2019s transgender social service center, says that when he was younger, attitudes surrounding trans people were more \u201clive and let live.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Menon started HRT on the last day of classes while at Griffith University in Australia. He moved back to Singapore shortly afterward and underwent top surgery approximately two years<\/span> before applying to change his gender marker with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe rules were not so clear as they are now,\u201d Menon explains. \u201cI ended up just going into the ICA office a couple of times with different documents and trying my luck.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Menon\u2019s process of getting out of NS was similarly straightforward. He headed down to the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) and explained to the receptionist that he was a trans man. He received a letter in the mail confirming his exemption about a week later.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trans men, compared to trans women, are less likely to serve NS even after changing their gender marker. \u201cI don\u2019t know of anyone who has done NS as a trans man,\u201d Menon says. \u201cEven those who volunteered to were told they could not.\u201d He speculates that possible reasons for rejection could include the Ministry of Defense\u2019s (MINDEF) unwillingness to deal with the complexity of supporting trans men in terms of meeting their mental and physical needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, exemptions for trans women from NS are more difficult to receive. \u201cOnce you get into NS, it\u2019s nearly impossible to get out even if you are trans,\u201d Li says. \u201cThey say they\u2019ll book an appointment for you with a medical officer that doesn\u2019t happen for four months. And then you won\u2019t get to see the army psychologist for another six months. They delay it so you have no choice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
National Service is required for all male Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. Photo courtesy of Sgt. Eric Rutherford on Wikimedia Commons<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trans women who are forced to go through NS often report incidents of verbal harassment and physical assault. Lune Loh, speaking with <\/span>The Associated Press <\/span><\/i>in November 2022, <\/span>detailed<\/span><\/a> one incident where a man \u201ctook his rifle and tried to shove it between her legs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like the earth will cook us alive faster than we can get legal gender recognition,\u201d Loh told the news service.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a consequence of these shifts in policies and social infrastructure, mental health in the trans community has diminished in recent years. Menon says that although LGBTQ+ rights and issues were not publicly talked about during his time, \u201cit still felt safer than it is right now.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He cites the lack of available information about gender-affirming health care and the growing omnipresence of social media in Singaporean society as possible reasons for this. \u201cThere was no gender clinic back then, but we all knew who to go to. So psychologically, it doesn\u2019t affect you that much,\u201d Menon says. \u201cBut right now, there\u2019s no clarity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A trans person who is of legal age in Singapore might have to wait years before starting HRT. They might get redirected to clinic after clinic, seeing the same psychologists over and over again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll of that takes a toll because all you want to do is [start HRT] and you know that is the solution,\u201d Menon explains. \u201cYou know that will make you feel better but you cannot access it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Vitriol against the global trans community on social media contributes to this mental toll, he says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of fear in living their lives because of the violence they have seen online.\u201d Many of his patients report experiencing secondary trauma from the things they have witnessed happening to others like them.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a <\/span>2021 study<\/span><\/a> by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law: \u201cTransgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization, including rape, sexual assault, and aggravated or simple assault.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Menon states that in the trans community in Singapore, \u201calmost everyone knows someone who has died, or has attempted suicide themselves.\u201d He adds <\/span>what is widely known<\/span><\/a>: \u201cOne thing about suicide is that once you know someone who has died of suicide, your risk of suicide increases.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It is also far more difficult for transgender people to find adequate resources to support their physical and mental health as compared to cisgender people in the country. Until 2014, there were no social services dedicated specifically to addressing the needs of the transgender community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ginger Rogers, Dance On Air<\/span><\/p>\n

June Chua, 50, founded The T Project with her late sister, Alicia, in the attic of an old shophouse. Barely large enough to fit three people, the homeless shelter reflected the sisters\u2019 desire to fill a gap that prevailed in Singapore\u2019s social service sector: the lack of services offered to trans people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Transgender and non-binary youth are <\/span>more likely<\/span><\/a> to experience homelessness in comparison to cisgender youth. Homelessness can be categorized into two categories: street or unsheltered homelessness and sheltered homelessness. According to the <\/span>second nationwide homelessness street count<\/span><\/a> published in 2022 by researchers at the National University of Singapore\u2019s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, the form of homelessness most prevalent in Singapore shifted from street to shelter. Their key findings include that there was a 41% decrease in the number of street homeless people from 1,050 in 2019 to 616 in 2021, but there was a staggering increase in occupancy in temporary shelters, from 65 to 420.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before 2014, trans individuals experiencing street homelessness would be rerouted to a shelter based on the gender marker listed on that individual\u2019s NRIC, a marker that did not always accurately reflect their gender identity. This not only posed a threat to the homeless trans community but indirectly forced them to weigh the dangers they might face on the streets versus the ones that might follow them into the shelters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCan you imagine you\u2019re already female-presenting, and may even have had surgery, and you are forced to share a toilet without doors with six or seven other cisgender males?\u201d Chua asks.<\/span><\/p>\n

She recalls emailing a social worker about seeking safe, temporary accommodation for trans people experiencing homelessness. Her first email bounced back. She would later receive a response stating that they are not equipped to deal with issues regarding members of the LGBTQ+ community. Chua could not believe what she was reading. \u201cWe are LGBTQ+, yes, but we are talking about <\/span>homelessness<\/span><\/i>,\u201d she wrote back. \u201cEverybody can be homeless.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The T Project was met with many bureaucratic challenges in its effort to get registered as a nonprofit organization. Normally a business or organization seeking official registration in Singapore can submit their application online and get approval within 24 hours. It took The T Project three years to get approved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chua\u2019s application was rejected multiple times due to a clause that prohibited the registration of any organization or entity that would cause \u201cdisharmony within society.\u201d In 2019, the Minister of Law came to visit the shelter and explained to Chua that the Singapore government \u201ccannot give money to a particular group\u201d and that if she were to open the shelter to be inclusive of all homeless Singaporeans and not just those in the trans community, he might be able to fund the shelter.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Chua wasn\u2019t willing to compromise. She had funding from donations, a lease on the shelter and its adjoining buildings, and a complete staff of LGBTQ+ professionals. All she needed was registration. Chua said to him, \u201cMinister, I think I am the first person standing before you not asking for money.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Three months later, her application was approved.<\/span><\/p>\n