SINGAPORE: The proportion of people in Singapore who think gay sex and marriage are wrong has fallen over the past decade, according to an Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) study published on Thursday (Aug 28).
Between 2013 and 2024, those who disapprove of gay sex fell by about 27 percentage points, while those who disapprove of gay marriage dropped by around 23 percentage points.
After the decreases, slightly over half of the respondents view these acts as wrong: 52.9 per cent disapprove of gay sex, while 50.8 per cent disapprove of gay marriage.
Less than half think it is wrong for gay couples to pursue adoption, surrogacy or assisted reproductive technology (ART), after disapproval of such same-sex family formation pathways also dropped.
IPS’ survey gathered responses from 4,000 citizens and permanent residents in 2024. Findings on religiosity, identity-based prejudice and racial and religious divides were published earlier this year.
For this study, researchers tracked moral attitudes on a variety of issues, comparing them across different religious groups and against previous findings in 2013 and 2018.
Views on same-sex issues liberalised the most among the issues in the poll, noted study authors Dr Mathew Mathews, Mr Hanniel Asher Lim, Dr Teo Kay Key and Mr Melvin Tay.
The survey found a strong moral consensus against extramarital sex and gambling, with 75.1 per cent and 74 per cent disapproving respectively.
A majority of people in Singapore – 58 per cent – also disapproved of pregnancy out of wedlock, but attitudes have liberalised substantially, with disapproval falling by about 15 percentage points.
The researchers found a hierarchy of acceptance on same-sex issues that persisted across time.
Gay sex attracted the most disapproval, followed by gay marriage, surrogacy or ART by gay couples and lastly, gay adoption.
Notably, the gap between gay marriage and gay adoption narrowed from around 12 percentage points in 2013 to about 5 percentage points in 2024.
"This indicates growing alignment in how respondents evaluate relationship recognition versus parenting pathways," said the study.
The researchers also noted that although gay marriage presumes intimacy, it draws less disapproval than gay sex.
Same-sex family formation – adoption, surrogacy and ART – also tends to be judged more leniently than gay sex and marriage.
"This pattern indicates that respondents assessed each item on its own terms rather than as a bundled sequence," they said.
"Substantively, it suggests that moral reservations are concentrated on same-sex conjugal acts more than on same-sex relationship recognition or same-sex parenting."
The survey also showed a "substantial liberalising of views" on gay sex across most religious traditions from 2013 to 2024.
However, "strong and persistent" disapproval of gay sex remained among older Muslim and Christian respondents, in contrast to “rapid liberalisation” among Catholic, Hindu and Buddhist youths, as well as Taoists and the non-religious as a whole.
Across all religions and the non-religious, younger respondents held more permissive views than older respondents on gay sex.
In August 2022, it was announced at the National Day Rally that Singapore would repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code, revoking a colonial-era law that criminalises sex between men. The Constitution would also be amended to protect the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Religious groups issued statements shortly after the announcement. The mufti of Singapore called it a “tough balancing act” while the National Council of Churches said it would “acquiesce” to the move.
However, at least two groups representing more than 120 local churches expressed disappointment.
In November 2022, legislation was passed to decriminalise gay sex while also enshrining the heterosexual definition of marriage in the Constitution. The repeal of Section 377A drew relief from LGBTQ groups.
The IPS researchers said that maintaining harmony in multireligious Singapore will mean “managing and valuing, not erasing, pluralism”.
The state must facilitate dialogue on divisive issues and “keep the playing field legitimate for disagreement”, such that strongly held convictions can be expressed lawfully while minority views are not coerced, they said.
They added that religious leaders have an important role to play, and so does the public.
“A diverse society is lived, not merely legislated,” they said, urging people to “argue the issue, not the identity” and practise the etiquette of disagreement, especially online.
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Between 2013 and 2024, those who disapprove of gay sex fell by about 27 percentage points, while those who disapprove of gay marriage dropped by around 23 percentage points.
After the decreases, slightly over half of the respondents view these acts as wrong: 52.9 per cent disapprove of gay sex, while 50.8 per cent disapprove of gay marriage.
Less than half think it is wrong for gay couples to pursue adoption, surrogacy or assisted reproductive technology (ART), after disapproval of such same-sex family formation pathways also dropped.
IPS’ survey gathered responses from 4,000 citizens and permanent residents in 2024. Findings on religiosity, identity-based prejudice and racial and religious divides were published earlier this year.
For this study, researchers tracked moral attitudes on a variety of issues, comparing them across different religious groups and against previous findings in 2013 and 2018.
Views on same-sex issues liberalised the most among the issues in the poll, noted study authors Dr Mathew Mathews, Mr Hanniel Asher Lim, Dr Teo Kay Key and Mr Melvin Tay.
The survey found a strong moral consensus against extramarital sex and gambling, with 75.1 per cent and 74 per cent disapproving respectively.
A majority of people in Singapore – 58 per cent – also disapproved of pregnancy out of wedlock, but attitudes have liberalised substantially, with disapproval falling by about 15 percentage points.
Related:
SOME GAY ACTS MORE ACCEPTABLE THAN OTHERS
The researchers found a hierarchy of acceptance on same-sex issues that persisted across time.
Gay sex attracted the most disapproval, followed by gay marriage, surrogacy or ART by gay couples and lastly, gay adoption.
Notably, the gap between gay marriage and gay adoption narrowed from around 12 percentage points in 2013 to about 5 percentage points in 2024.
"This indicates growing alignment in how respondents evaluate relationship recognition versus parenting pathways," said the study.
The researchers also noted that although gay marriage presumes intimacy, it draws less disapproval than gay sex.
Same-sex family formation – adoption, surrogacy and ART – also tends to be judged more leniently than gay sex and marriage.
"This pattern indicates that respondents assessed each item on its own terms rather than as a bundled sequence," they said.
"Substantively, it suggests that moral reservations are concentrated on same-sex conjugal acts more than on same-sex relationship recognition or same-sex parenting."
The survey also showed a "substantial liberalising of views" on gay sex across most religious traditions from 2013 to 2024.
However, "strong and persistent" disapproval of gay sex remained among older Muslim and Christian respondents, in contrast to “rapid liberalisation” among Catholic, Hindu and Buddhist youths, as well as Taoists and the non-religious as a whole.
Across all religions and the non-religious, younger respondents held more permissive views than older respondents on gay sex.
Related:
In August 2022, it was announced at the National Day Rally that Singapore would repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code, revoking a colonial-era law that criminalises sex between men. The Constitution would also be amended to protect the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Religious groups issued statements shortly after the announcement. The mufti of Singapore called it a “tough balancing act” while the National Council of Churches said it would “acquiesce” to the move.
However, at least two groups representing more than 120 local churches expressed disappointment.
In November 2022, legislation was passed to decriminalise gay sex while also enshrining the heterosexual definition of marriage in the Constitution. The repeal of Section 377A drew relief from LGBTQ groups.
The IPS researchers said that maintaining harmony in multireligious Singapore will mean “managing and valuing, not erasing, pluralism”.
The state must facilitate dialogue on divisive issues and “keep the playing field legitimate for disagreement”, such that strongly held convictions can be expressed lawfully while minority views are not coerced, they said.
They added that religious leaders have an important role to play, and so does the public.
“A diverse society is lived, not merely legislated,” they said, urging people to “argue the issue, not the identity” and practise the etiquette of disagreement, especially online.
Continue reading...