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01/08/2007
Singapore bans photo exhibition on gays, lesbians kissing
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The photo exhibition ‘Kissing’ is cancelled since the MDA denied it a licence on the grounds that it would “promote a homosexual lifestyle”. The notification was recieved on 30 July, two days before it was supposed to start.
From Indignation
Alex Au of Yawning Bread also wants everyone to know the following...
At each of these times, if you ask me nicely, I will show you my private album containing the complete set of pictures.
I will not put the pictures on the web. They will stay as silent witnesses to the censorship we have to endure, but I am confident they will outlast the enforcers. There will come a day when the system crumbles, and then these photographs will be exhibited in a manner they were meant to be, I hope along with videos from Martyn See, and works by many others which have also been shabbily treated. They would make a joyous celebration of the real freedom we have never tasted since the republic was founded.
Singapore bans photo exhibition on gays, lesbians kissing
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
SINGAPORE: Singapore's censors have banned an exhibition of photographs depicting gay men and women kissing, a gay rights activist said Wednesday, calling the move "absurd."
The city-state's Media Development Authority denied the exhibition's organizers a license on the grounds that the photographs "promote a homosexual lifestyle," Alex Au, founder of a Singapore gay rights group, People Like Us, told The Associated Press.
The Media Development Authority had no immediate comment.
The exhibition, entitled "Kissing," is a selection of 80 posed shots of same-sex kissing between fully clothed models, said Au, who shot the photographs.
"Kissing" was canceled after organizers received a letter from the media regulator on Monday saying it was rejecting their application for a license to hold the exhibition, Au said.
The exhibition was part of a two-week gay pride series of forums, film screenings, lectures and other events that was scheduled to start later Wednesday.
"It's absurd to think that gay people do not also kiss, and that representation of such a reality would be subversive," Au said. "There is a very stereotypical representation of gays and lesbians as deviants and I think it is important to correct the stereotype."
Au added that in place of the canceled exhibition, organizers have planned a talk to be accompanied by a slideshow of the photographs. Indoor gatherings do not require police permits.
Under Singapore law, gay sex is deemed "an act of gross indecency," punishable by a maximum of two years in jail. Authorities have banned gay festivals and censored gay films, saying homosexuality should not be advocated as a lifestyle choice. Despite the official ban on gay sex, there have been few prosecutions.
10:50 Permalink | Comments (10) | Email this | Tags: Singapore, Censorship
Comments
Fuck the Thought Police.
And fuck the tyrannical State—the State whose fundamental function is to PROTECT THE FREEDOM OF PEACE INDIVIDUALS engaging in their MUTUALLY CONSENSUAL PEACEFUL ACTIVITIES.
And to ban an exhibition? No one is FORCED to go to an exhibition. i.e. to those who find homosexual activity "objectionable", DON'T FUCKING GO TO THE EXHIBITION–stay the hell away, go to church, screw an animal... whatever dude.
Hold the exhibition and be dammed. Fancy allowing the state to tell you what you should or should not do with your own life!
FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT • FUCK THE GOVERNMENT •
http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/wasdin/wasdin27.html
Matilah Singapura!
Posted by: Matilah_Singapura | 01/08/2007
Actually this is quite interesting. I have this view that it may be possible that the reason why Alex Au is doing this is because it is and he knows it will be bannable.
He is probably trying to raise awareness of said ban, test the waters so to speak. Would he have done so if it wasn't going to force the censor's hands?
I would speculate on what Alex Au intends by this action, but i am just raising this possibility. I too am not a fan of censorship, quis custodiet ipsos custodes and all that funk.
Posted by: fastspawn | 01/08/2007
unlike gambling, homosesuality has not found any large scale
business development opportunities
once such opportunities are identified, I am sure there can
be changes
Posted by: sgsociety.com | 01/08/2007
but isn't it true that gays are one of the largest consumerist populations in the world? There are also highly successful in their chosen fields of work. It could all be a stereotype though.
Posted by: fastspawn | 02/08/2007
so why dont you come up with some ideas on the scale of the integrated resorts and suggest them to EDB?
Posted by: sgsociety.com | 03/08/2007
OMG, I'm so glad the govt banned these disgusting pictures. They have to be applauded for their vigilance.
Can the govt also ban eating of meat that still carry the shape of the animals please? I think it is really disgusting for vegans to have to watch this. Meat if eaten should be made into patties so that it does not carry the form of the animal itself. To vegans, eating meat is simply disgusting imagine eating an animal that was once living to satisfy yourself terrible.
Posted by: Lucky Tan | 03/08/2007
One powerful word, FUCK, best express the two divergent values. Neither one is superior over the other in its existential natural corrupt state. However, in life, there are enough checks and balances for realignment.
We need to have faith.
Posted by: Lama | 03/08/2007
lucky tan: so you want to ban dishes like steamed fish? what about those hainan chicken stalls that hang up the boiled chickens for customers to see? ban them too? and medicinal wine with snakes, lizards etc in the bottle? all those turn you stomach?
I dont particularly like to see photos of guys kissing either; girls kissing not so bad
Posted by: sgsociety.com | 03/08/2007
it is found in their religious book. all laws basically came from that book. driven by a religious mind, they stone anyone who practices otherwise.
also, sex(lusts), money(taxes etc) and power(egos) have been used as weapons for suppression or comformity to the ruling elites. these are powerful weapons because, being sinners outselves, we would at some point also violated those principles and therefore can’t escape from stoning.
if it is stone for stone, they are dead too.
except, their fortress have been protected….so far.
but they can’t escape their own laws either.
Posted by: hypocrites in high places | 04/08/2007
Singapore gays: hope and disappointment
In 2003 PM Goh Chok Tong made an unexpected pronouncement about homosexuals: that because in the current social environment there is no longer any risk of closet gays being subjected to blackmail, they can be appointed to even "sensitive" positions in the pubic service. The gay community was much encouraged by this development and believed it to be part of a general processing of opening up. Since then, however, they received a series of disappointments, as a number of applications to the authorities for permits to hold gay-based functions were turned down, the most recent being a proposed photo exhibition by Mr Alex Au, a prominent gay activist (see his blog at ybsampler1.blogspot.com), of photos of gay kissing. Was this a case of lower levels of the government defying higher level policy decisions? or a hesitant government responding to pressure against change? I dont think so. I believe the community misread GCT's pronouncement on a very specific issue into something much broader.
Public service job application forms do not ask the applicant to specify his/her sexual orientation, nor are questions on the subject asked as part of a standard job interview; hence, most homosexuals who get appointments would not have to reveal their homosexuality. I do not know whether, when someone applies for a "sensitive" position, he/she gets asked "are you homosexual", but in the densely networked Singapore system, people who make such appointments would already know a lot about a proposed appointee's background and a specific question on this is probably quite unnecessary. So the scenario is not really "now this person is gay, but now we have the more open policy, so we appoint him nevertheless", but "we appointed this person a little while ago, but recently someone told me he/she is gay; you think this is a problem?" This question would have to be ultimately answered at the highest level, requiring the PM himself to take a position on the issue.
(I happen to know a foreigner appointed to a senior position in NUS for a short period, and later heard from a mutual acquaintance that he is a homosexual. Similar cases may have existed in other organizations.)
Posted by: sgsociety.com | 04/08/2007