Singapore Bans Gay Forum

Singapore’s having the best anti-gay week ever. First authorities shutter a gay photo show, now they’ve canceled an August 7th forum called “Sexual Orientation in International Law: The Case of Asia.” Apparently Singapore isn’t down with self-reflection.

The forum, which would have featured Canadian theorist Douglas Sanders, got the ax after officials rejected Sanders’ visa and lashed out at the event’s international flavor. The Home Affairs released a statement yesterday, which reads:

Our laws are an expression and reflection of the values of our society; the discourse over a domestic issue such as the laws that govern homosexuality in Singapore must be reserved for Singaporeans … foreigners should refrain from interfering.

Funny, because we thought Singapore’s anti-gay laws were just a throwback to Britain’s colonial era Section 377.