The eminent Michael Kirby, a retired Australian High Court judge who's openly gay, told an audience of about 200 legal professionals in Singapore that the country's gay sex laws could have an adverse impact of the health of gay men who are at higher risk of HIV/AIDS, and it's "important that they should have equality and dignity."
Speaking at the Singapore Law Society's Biennial Lecture on Tuesday night, Kirby covered three topics: setting up Australia's Law Reform Commission in 1975, the case for judges to draw on human rights principles and Singapore’s section 377A which criminalises gay sex.
The 72-year-old member of the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights described the threat of HIV as a "very urgent problem" and that prevention is high on the UN's priority list given that 2.6 million people are infected every year. The issue is exacerbated as there's no vaccine, and the funding for anti-retroviral drugs has decreased since the global financial crisis. He will also be speaking at the 2011 UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in New York to be held 8-10 June.
"How can we get rid of the laws… that is a barrier in the minds of people getting the information that is necessary for their protection and the protection of society?"
Kirby, who is an internationally known advocate against laws criminalising gay sex, described Singapore's section 377A as a "problem" in the efforts of HIV/AIDS prevention and "burden" the country inherited as a British colony.
He noted that the law society had proposed for the law to be repealed in 2007 as part of Singapore's first major penal code amendments in 22 years but was not accepted by the parliament.
The "nasty little provision" or similar versions of it is in force in 41 of the 54 Commonwealth countries – including Singapore – today. He pointed out that the rate of HIV infection in Commonwealth countries is double that of nations that have laws influenced by the French (Napoleonic) legal system.
Kirby, who told the audience that he’s been a relationship with the same partner for 42 years, drew a comparison between gays today and the way Asians in Australia were made to feel like outsiders who "were never quite accepted" during the 'White Australia' years. The policy, which was in place from 1901 to 1973, intentionally restricted 'non-white' immigration to Australia.
"In my own case I've a particular interest in this because of my own sexuality as a homosexual man. And I tell you that not to intrude a personal feature into what is a very dignified and agreeable occasion but because of this."
"We were very fearful of Asian people," he said as he recalled his experience growing up as a boy in the 1950s in Sydney.
That is until an Asian family moved next door to his. "My parents who had just an ordinary Australian upbringing came to know and to love them... It's much harder to hate people if you know them."
"Now we all know in this room that there've always been gay lawyers and gay judges but generally speaking in societies which criminalise them, they are under tremendous pressure to keep it quiet. I kept it quiet. But I had the good fortune to have a partner for 42 years. 42 years, can you imagine it? It was harder to keep it silent," said Australia's longest serving judge who spoke without referring to any notes throughout his entire speech.
[Kirby himself came out in 1999 in Who's Who in Australia by naming Johan van Vloten as his long-term partner.]
"I tell it to you because I think to some extent gay people have conspired in their own second-class position and it's not their fault; but it's part of the facts that they've kept it quiet because they've been frightened. And I think it is important for it to be said here in Singapore that there are gay people everywhere and if suddenly all them stood up and said: 'This is me. It's like left-handedness, it's no big deal. Get over it. Have an aspirin. Have a lie down. You'll feel better tomorrow.' And things will be different."
"And I hope that in saying that, I have made a little contribution to the understanding that gay people are human beings too, they are professional people, they are lawyers, they are judges, they are amongst you, and it's important that they should have equality and dignity," he said.
"And in the age of AIDS, they should be encouraged to know and to be reached to, to be informed and to save themselves and their societies from infection."
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Being too old to believe that things will be better when people change their minds about me being born this way, I am not hopeful either in the judges and lawyers amongst us who are gay, that my life will get better just because they are judges or lawyers.
However, I respect Justice Kirby a lot, inspired by him. It is people like him who enable me to feel a little better about myself.
Based on my experience of working with the government of Singapore and also to all my colleagues and friends. I receive very little judgement, but concern. They are worry for me that it is difficult and hard to be gay, some thought it was a choice. But I manage to educate them and I take pride in it.
My suggestion to gay singaporean is to be brave and step out and come out. Don't just go out to the gay club only to come home to the little hidden self. There isn't any shame to hide at all. In fact, living a life of true authenticity is the ultimate happiness one can ever get.
Singaporeans need to see positive gay role models on TV. They need to find an affinity with them. People need to come out and mingle around. This will undoubtedly banish stereotypes and encourage learning.
But its really discouraging. I know of many people who think monogamy in a gay relationship is a myth. I hope people like Mr Kirby set an example to all those wondering souls out there :)
Homopride.tumblr.com
as long as there is Religion, there will be bigots.
i have highly educated friends who are brainwashed by their religious leaders because they tell them "gay is a lifestyle choice" PERIOD. they don't even consider that there is a possiblilty that gay could be born this way.
thank you mr. michael kirby for wonderful speech.
I said" If Islam does not accept me as a homosexual, there is no reason i should accept it as my religion". Just look at all the suffering religions have caused.
Most Singaporeans live in fear...of EVERYTHING. It is embedded in us. To stand out in the crowd will be like not having an i phone and a LV bag slung across your shoulder and not being able to balance hands off in the mrt.
I was gone 21 years and came back and find the closeted gay scene here really discouraging. Gays should trust themselves more and for all, LOVE themselves first.
Wake up guys and savour the coffee and croissant in your lives.
Honorable? I don't think so. It's easy for you to say, Michael Kirby, now that you are old and retired. You ought to have taken your aspirin back in your 1950s, laid down so that today, you can proudly say, "I did it. It was no big deal." Would you still have been a judge if you did? I doubt it.
This suggests that gays have higher rates than straights. Here is what I got from the Straits Times statistics in terms of HIV sexual transmission cases:
For heterosexuals, the rates were 222 (2006), 255 (2007), 249 (2008). For homosexuals, the rates were 95 (2006), 130 (2007), 151 (2008).
For bisexuals, the rates were 14 (2006), 15 (2007), 54 (2008).
Despite the rising rates among gays, they are still much lower than those among straights. Apparently, straights have a higher rate. So are gay men still at "higher" risks than straights?
For bisexuals, the rates were 14 (2006), 15 (2007), 54 (2008).
Despite the rising rates among gays, they are still much lower than those among straights. Apparently, straights have a higher rate. So are gay men still at "higher" risks than straights?"
Don't just look at absolute numbers. Gay men/MSM are maybe 10% (?) of the population but account for nearly 50% of infections. What does that say? There is a large body of studies that say that gay men as a group are indeed at higher risk of HIV compared to the general population in many countries.
Obama shifts AIDS strategy to high-risk groups
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-14/news/21982401_1_hiv-infection-gay-men-aids-activists
Gay men risk of HIV 'still high'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7318346.stm
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