Thinking Aloud

Gay rights will remain one of Singapore's most intractable knots

Attitudes may have shifted but tensions between conservative and LGBT camps will continue

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In 2003, then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong dropped a bombshell. The Government, he said during an interview with Time magazine, had quietly lifted its restrictions on hiring gays, even for sensitive roles.

"In the past, if we know you're gay, we would not employ you. But we just changed this quietly," he said.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on May 05, 2019, with the headline Gay rights will remain one of Singapore's most intractable knots. Subscribe