Dear Straight People,

Discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community exists in Singapore. And sometimes, it comes from those closest to you – your family and friends.

From anecdotes of being kicked out of the family home to losing friends of over a decade, here are 12 stories of discrimination that happened in Singapore.

1. Anastasia Lim

‘My grandma once told my sister whom I share a room with, ‘Be careful when you sleep, she might molest you’

2. Isaac Lim

‘It may seem trivial, but my friends of over a decade rejected me outright after I came out to them.’

3. Nicholas Chan

‘I have an uncle who always shares posts that support Section 377A and it’s saddening because he is my relative.’

4. Trevor Wee

‘I’ve got this one friend who is bisexual. His mum told him that being bisexual is a mental disorder and that was saddening because his own parents were against him.’

5. Gillyn and Jolyn

‘When our feature on Dear Straight People went viral, one of our friends who attended our wedding was told by her family member who saw our video that she was a disgrace for attending a same-sex wedding.’

6. Mieke Song

‘My family on my maternal side have always been a big part of my life, but one day my aunt posted a long rant about how homosexuality and transgender people were “wrong” and about how disgusting it is on our shared family group chat. 

It broke me down completely and made me feel so ashamed and scared to talk about myself. I didn’t think my own family would ever think that way.’

7. Yuu Andro

‘I’ve been very fortunate to be accepted for who I am but I know of a few friends who were disowned and chased out of the house for being queer.’

8. Martha Lee

‘I had gay friends who were disowned by their family and I believe everybody should have the right to be loved by their family. Nobody should have to experience having that love taken away from them.’

9. Paul & Michele

Paul: ‘My older brother was gay but my parents told him not to tell me because they were afraid I might be influenced and encouraged into the gay lifestyle.

I only found out after my brother passed away at 19 in a traffic accident and that made me feel like I never got to know him for who he really was. The pain of never really knowing my brother for who he was has stayed with me all these years.’ 

Michele: ‘I was brought up in an ultra-Christian family so I had a lot of negative perceptions of the LGBTQ community.

When I went abroad to Canada for University, that was the first time in my life I met gay people. That made me realise that a lot of my prior perceptions of them were unfounded and they were actually some of the nicest people in the world.’ 

10. Clementine Shamaney

‘There was one time I was wearing a feminine outfit and my dad was so outraged by it that he stormed out when he saw me.’

11. Deon Lim

‘I have a Muslim friend who is scared to come out because his parents will likely throw him out of the house.’

SUPPORT THE REPEAL OF SECTION 377A

By legally framing same-sex attraction as ‘immoral’ and criminal, Section 377A shapes mindsets and perpetuates discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community in Singapore.

We hope this initiative raises awareness on the discrimination faced by the LGBTQ+ community in Singapore and this will hopefully drive more signatures to the petition supporting the repeal of S377A: http://bit.ly/Repeal377APetition.

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