ST: Section 377A was intended to stop British civil servants visiting male prostitutes: Lawyers

SINGAPORE – Section 377A of the Penal Code was originally intended to curtail the spread of male prostitution, not consensual private sexual acts between men, lawyers arguing for the law to be repealed said.

It also was not intended to criminalise penetrative sex, which was covered under Section 377, a separate law that was repealed in 2007, they added.

On top of that, the law violates parts of the Singapore Constitution that guarantee equality before the law and freedom of expression, the lawyers said.