Lee Hsien Loong MP (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician who has served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore since August 2004. Lee is the eldest son of the 1st Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. He has taken over the leadership of People's Action Party as the Secretary-General since December 2004 when former Prime Minister and Secretary-General Goh Chok Tong stepped down from the position to become the Senior Minister. Lee then led the party to victory in the 2006, 2011, 2015 and 2020 general elections. He began his current term on 15 January 2016 following the opening of Singapore's 13th Parliament.
Singapore’s Latest Ruling on Gay Sex Is ‘Cold Comfort,’ Activists Say
The Singapore Court of Appeal, the country’s top court, declined Monday to overturn a law criminalizing gay sex, ruling that three men who brought challenges did not have legal standing because the government has pledged not to enforce the colonial-era law.
Gay rights advocates had sought to overturn the law, known as Section 377A, arguing that it stigmatizes gay men and promotes discrimination.
The law, enacted in 1938 during British rule, does not apply to women. Pink Dot SG, a leading L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy group that organizes Singapore’s annual pride event, said it was “profoundly disappointed” by the decision. “The acknowledgment that Section 377A is unenforceable only in the prosecutorial sense is cold comfort,” the group said in a statement. “Section 377A’s real impact lies in how it perpetuates discrimination across every aspect of life: at home, in schools, in the workplace, in our media, and even access to vital services like health care.” A similar law imposed by British colonial rulers in India — and known there as 377 — was struck down by the Indian Supreme Court in 2018, inspiring activists to challenge the law in Singapore and other former British colonies.
Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, has long said that his small, Southeast Asian island nation is conservative and not ready for the changes that repealing the law would bring.
