Fridae

Update (Aug 6, 2007): Despite the police refusing a permit for Prof Douglas Sanders to speak - he has since chosen not to visit Singapore - the event will still go on. The topic may be altered slightly, but will still focus on the law and sexual orientation.

A legal lecture - organised as part of Indignation, Singapore's pride festival - by Prof Douglas Sanders, professor emeritus at Thailand's prestigious Chulalongkorn University and Mahidol University has been banned, organisers learnt on Friday.

The news come after Kissing, a photographic exhibition featuring 80 images depicting same-sex couples kissing was denied a licence by the Media Development Authority to hold the exhibition.

Prof Douglas Sanders, professor emeritus at Thailand's prestigious Chulalongkorn University and Mahidol University.

Prof Sanders, who was a Professor of Law at the University of British Columbia for more than two decades until relocating to Bangkok in 2003, was to give a lecture entitled "Sexual orientation in international law - the case of Asia."

According to the Indignation web site, it was to give an "overview of the increasing awareness and the development of gay issues as a subject in international law, with a particular focus on the Asian context."

The esteemed speaker, who writes a regular column for Fridae, is a noted expert on constitutional law, international human rights law, indigenous peoples and sexuality. He is also believed to be the first gay person to openly address the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in Geneva, Switzerland in 1992.

Organiser Alex Au, who said he was not officially informed of the decision by the Police's Public Entertainment Licensing Unit (PELU), told Fridae that he "saw it coming" as a licence for the talk had only been provisionally approved on condition that the speaker is entering the country on a Professional Visit Pass (PVP). The licence was consequently withdrawn after the immigration department rejected the professor's PVP application.

A search on the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority web site revealed that a PVP is required of all foreign speakers giving lectures that is racial, communal, religious or political in nature as well as performing artistes and journalists not sponsored by any Singapore Government agency.

The Police said in a press statement on Friday that it found the event to be "contrary to public interest."

"Our laws are an expression and reflection of the values of our society; the discourse over a domestic issue such as the laws that govern homosexuality in Singapore must be reserved for Singaporeans. Indeed there have been public forums where Singaporeans have debated and discussed the issue of homosexuality at length. Singapore's domestic politics is the domain for Singaporeans and foreigners should refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Singapore."

The statement further warned that it is an offence to "organise an indoor public forum with foreign speakers without a licence" and for "foreigners without professional visit passes to be speakers at the forum."

Prof Sanders, who can't be contacted for comment at press time, is currently in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur for the Fifth International Convention Of Asia Scholars to present his paper on Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code of 1860 which makes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" an offence.

He wrote in the first paragraph of his paper which is also the basis of his two talks scheduled to be held next week in Singapore, "Article number 377 is repeated in the current laws in force in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei - as if it were a special brand name, all of its own."

The other lecture to be held in Singapore at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) on Aug 8 has also been cancelled.

The abstract of Prof Sanders's seminar at ISEAS reads: "Section 377A of the Penal Code criminalizes gay sex. To repeal or not to repeal? Against a background of an intense debate over the rights and wrongs of a colonial era law in Singapore, this seminar seeks to anchor the issue in a broader context of how anti-sodomy laws come to this part of the world and the political/social/legal dynamics that have led to different outcomes in various parts of Asia... The surprising strength and importance of this case law reflects, in part, the reluctance of many elected bodies to act. That reluctance has largely ended in developed Western countries and in Latin America. The debate has arrived in Asia."

Fridae understands that the decision was made after the institute was informed by the immigration department that Prof Sanders has not been granted the PVP. According to sources, this is an exceptional case as it has not been the practice of ISEAS to obtain PVP for the innumerable foreign academics speaking at seminars and conferences hosted by the institute throughout the year.

When contacted, a staff member, who did not wish to be quoted, said that ISEAS being a statutory board has to be "mindful of the concerns of the state."

Under Section 377A of the Penal Code, gay sex acts - even if consensual and conducted in private - is punishable by up to two years in jail. Civil rights activists and the Law Society of Singapore have called on the government to decriminalise oral and anal sex between gay men in an upcoming review after it was announced that oral and anal sex between heterosexual couples will be decriminalised but laws affecting same-sex couples will be retained.

Indignation, comprising a series of events including art exhibitions, talks, poetry, film, outdoor and social events, runs till Aug 14 at various locations. Although Kissing, the photographic exhibition has been banned, the organiser will hold Kiss and Tell, a clever and hilarious substitute in its place on evenings prior to the main program, in which a sample of the pictures - shown on powerpoint - will be discussed.

The full paper by Prof Douglas Sanders entitled "377 and the unnatural afterlife of British colonialism" may be downloaded here. Click on the link "momentum for change" under Related Articles to read an excerpt on developments in Hong Kong and Singapore.