Singapore Again Rejects Gay Party Permit
PlanetOut
Network, December 15, 2004
SUMMARY: Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs on
Monday rejected an appeal from organizers of a popular circuit party who seek
permission to hold a holiday party this year.
Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday
rejected an appeal from organizers of a popular circuit party who seek
permission to hold a holiday party this year.
The appeal followed last week’s action by the police,
who denied a permit to organizers of the party, known as SnowBall.04, because
the event contradicted the “moral values” of the majority of Singapore’s
population.
The rejections stunned Fridae.com and its subsidiary
Jungle Media, which has produced SnowBall parties for the past two years.
Fridae.com also produces Nation, an annual summer party that is the most
popular LGBT event in Asia.
In a statement, MHA echoed the reasoning of the police
for denying the permit.
“The blatant public display involving intimate behavior
of people of the same sex exhibited at previous events organized by Jungle
Media/Fridae.com would be an affront and unacceptable to the large majority of
Singaporeans,” the ministry said.
Fridae.com chief executive Stuart Koh decried the actions
as “poorly justified.”
“Fridae is extremely disappointed with the response we
have received, which, in the absence of any illegal act, is a blatant show of
discrimination against homosexuals in Singapore,” Koh said.
Hong Kong-based Fridae.com, the largest LGBT Web site in
Asia, has posted ticket refund information for tourists who may been planning
to attend SnowBall.04.
Koh also warned that the government’s action will hurt
Singapore’s reputation.
“The image of Singapore as a progressive nation will be
tarnished by such an act of discrimination,” he said, “and our aspirations
of being a global city where diversity is celebrated will be set back by many
years.”
[Home] [World] [Singapore]
