SINGAPORE (AP) — Authorities in Singapore on Friday banned a gay rights forum at which a retired Canadian law professor was to speak, the second time in a week the city-state has forbidden an event that touches on gay issues. The forum was to feature Douglas Sanders, a professor emeritus in law at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, the event's organizer, Alex Au, told the Associated Press.

But because the Aug. 7 forum, titled "Sexual Orientation in International Law: The Case of Asia," was deemed contrary to public interest, police canceled the event's license Friday and immigration authorities rejected Sander's visa application, Singapore's Home Affairs Ministry said.

"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," the statement said.

But Au, the forum's organizer, said Sanders had no such intention.

"He was going to do a lecture in Singapore about international trends. He is not an expert on Singapore and had no intention of talking about Singapore," Au said.

Singapore's censors earlier in the week banned an exhibition of photographs depicting gay men and women kissing, also organized by Au, saying the images "promote a homosexual lifestyle, and cannot be allowed."

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3 August 2007
Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE: The police have cancelled a licence under the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act for a public forum on the issue of homosexuality, which had been planned for next Tuesday.

The event was to be called "Sexual Orientation In International Law: The Case Of Asia" and it was to be held at Mohamed Sultan Road.

Police said the application was cancelled because the event is "contrary to public interest".

Police added that Singapore laws "are an expression and reflection of the values of the society here" and "the discourse over a domestic issue such as the laws that govern homosexuality in Singapore must be reserved for Singaporeans".

Police pointed out that there have been public forums where Singaporeans have debated and discussed the issue of homosexuality at length.

The statement added that "Singapore's domestic politics is the domain for Singaporeans and foreigners should refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Singapore".

Singaporean Au Wai Peng, better known as Alex Au, had applied to police for the license.

He had separately applied to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) for a professional visit pass, which would have enabled the foreigner to speak at the forum.

But ICA has also rejected this application on similar grounds.

Police said it "is an offence to organise an indoor public forum with foreign speakers without a licence. It is also an offence for foreigners without professional visit passes to be speakers at the forum".

Under the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act, Singaporean organisers of indoor public talks are exempted from applying for a permit if it is confined to Singaporean speakers.

However, if the forum or talk involves foreign speakers, the organiser must obtain a permit.

The prohibitions have come amid a debate in the city-state on whether gay sex should be decriminalized. Singapore's founding leader, Lee Kuan Yew, a few months ago questioned the ban on gay sex, saying the government should not act as moral police.

The police yesterday cancelled the permit for a public forum on gay issues and the professional visit pass for its foreign speaker.

Professor Douglas Sanders, a Canadian from the University of British Columbia, was due to speak on the topic, 'Sexual orientation in international law, a case for Asia'.

The police, in reviewing the application, said the event, scheduled for next Tuesday, is 'contrary to public interest'.

'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,' said the Ministry of Home Affairs in a statement.

This cancellation has, in turn, affected another seminar by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas) at which Prof Sanders was to have been a speaker.

The institute yesterday cancelled its seminar on Wednesday, called 'Society and Sexual Diversity: Human Rights, International Law, Western Patterns, Asian Developments'.

Iseas director K. Kesavapany could not be reached for comment last night.

However, the Tuesday forum, to be held at Mohamed Sultan Road, may still go ahead, said gay activist Alex Au, who had applied for the forum's permit and also separately applied for Prof Sander's pass.

A permit for a forum is not needed when the speakers are Singaporeans.

The Tuesday forum is part of an annual programme of events, organised by gay groups under the banner IndigNation, that began on Wednesday.

In cancelling the licence under the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act, the ministry noted that there have been public forums at which Singaporeans have debated and discussed the issue of homosexuality at length.

But it added that 'Singapore's domestic politics is the domain for Singaporeans and foreigners should refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Singapore'.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority also rejected the application for Prof Sanders on similar grounds.

The law requires organisers of indoor public talks to get a permit if there are foreign speakers.

Mr Au said he had applied for both permits in June and received an approval from the authorities a month later. But yesterday evening, he received a call from the authorities saying the permits were cancelled.

'The police have completely misunderstood the situation,' he told The Straits Times.

He said that in his application for Prof Sanders, he wrote that the lecture would focus on international cases and trends in Asia on homosexual issues.

He noted that Prof Sanders, who specialises in Canadian constitutional law, international human rights and sexuality issues, is not facing problems speaking in Kuala Lumpur this week on similar issues.

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4 August 2007
'Today' newspaper

The police have cancelled a licence for a public forum featuring a retired Canadian law professor, that was to have been held on Aug 7 as part of the annual IndigNation gay festival.

In reviewing the application by local organiser Alex Au, the police felt the event was contrary to the public interest. "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," said the Home Affairs Ministry in a statement on Friday.

Mr Au had also applied to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority for a professional visit pass for Professor Douglas Sanders, who was to have spoken on "Sexual Orientation in International Law: The Case of Asia". This, too, was rejected. Mr Au told AP Prof Sanders had meant to speak on international trends and "had no intention of talking about Singapore".

Last week, the Media Development Authority (MDA) banned another IndigNation event - an exhibition of photographs depicting same-sex couples kissing, which the authority said promoted a homosexual lifestyle.

However, it approved a story reading event - on condition that a text by author Ng Yi-Sheng not be read.