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| SAFE launch: Address by Lim Chi-Sharn |
 [Photo courtesy of Pelangi Pride Centre]
"Thank you for inviting me, as well as my mother (Christine Suchen Lim), to the launch of SAFE – Supporting, Affirming & Empowering our LGBTQ friends and family.
My mother, Suchen, is definitely, definitely, more religious than I am...
For, I am a criminal.
For those of you who are aware, Penal Code Section 377A, which criminalizes gross indecency between men, has been excluded from the current round of proposed Penal Code amendments.
Why is this so?
Sayoni’s blog reported that at the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Women’s Focus Group Discussion on Penal Code Amendments, Woman MP Ms. Indranee said that the Government has to look at parents. They might be afraid that their children will turn gay, because if they see other people being gay, they would think it is okay to be gay.
With the full force of the law on the left, and the pressure of familial expectations on the right, it is no wonder that many studies have shown that LGBTQ teenagers are over-represented in suicide rates.
Parents, Sons and Daughters, we are gathered here and have the precious opportunity to move hearts and minds to see a different world. I challenge you to reach across religious, class, ethnic and HIV borders, and include every letter in LGBTQ.
The minefields are numerous, and I stand together with you, right at the frontline.
Thank you."
- Lim Chi-Sharn, supporter of SAFELabels: SAFE launch |
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