Singapore to decriminalize gay sex but will keep marriage between man, woman

Singapore plans on decriminalizing gay sex but remains steadfast about the country's definition of marriage remaining to be between a man and a woman.

"I believe this is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will now accept," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Sunday during his annual national speech.

He also said his county will amend its constitution to ensure the existing definition of marriage cannot be challenged in court.

LGBT groups applauded Singapore's repeal of its colonial-era penal code that criminalizes sex between men, but they expressed concern over the constitutional amendment, arguing that it would help perpetuate discrimination, Reuters reported.

The county has already decriminalize sex between women.

Lee did not specify when the penal code section, which is not currently enforced but includes an up to two-year jail sentence, would be repealed.

Nearly 20% of people in Singapore are Christian and 14% are Muslim, while the plurality of residents, 33%, is Buddhist, according to a 2020 State Department report.

Muslims and Christians are opposed to the change that decriminalized sex between men. 

"The repeal is an extremely regrettable decision, which will have a profound impact on the culture that our children and future generations of Singaporeans will live in," an alliance of 80 churches stated about the government's decision.

Lee on Sunday stressed his government's support for traditional marriage. 

"We believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, that children should be raised within such families, that the traditional family should form the basic building block of society," he said.