53% of Singaporeans reacted negatively if they were to find out about LGBTQ family members: survey
SINGAPORE — More than half of Singaporeans reacted negatively if they were to find out their close family members were of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) orientation, according to an online survey.
The 887 Singaporean respondents were replying to a survey conducted by Blackbox Research on questions and statements ranging from Pink Dot Singapore, the annual event held in support of the LGBTQ community, to legal developments overseas on gay marriages and homosexuality.
The survey commissioned by Yahoo News Singapore asked respondents whether they have a positive or negative response to several statements with LGBTQ themes.
On the statement that a family member reveals to them that he or she is LGBTQ, 53 per cent of the respondents reacted negatively, with 14 per cent expressing “strongly negative” and 39 per cent having “somewhat negative” reactions.
The remaining 47 per cent of the respondents were positive about the statement, comprising 13 per cent with “strongly positive” and 34 per cent with “somewhat positive” reactions.
Sex between men is illegal under Section 377A of the Penal Code, but the authorities have said that they would not actively enforce the law.
The proportion of respondents who reacted negatively if they were to discover that their colleagues were LGBTQ was comparatively lower.
When asked about the statement that a colleague reveals to them that he or she is LGBTQ, 46 per cent had a negative reaction while 53 per cent had a positive reaction.
The survey also asked respondents for their reactions to the statement on the recent marriage of Li Huanwu, the grandson of Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, to his male partner in South Africa.
Li is the second son of Lee Hsien Yang, who is the younger brother of Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong. He married Heng Yirui in the presence of their family members on 24 May.
About 54 per cent reacted negatively to the statement, while the remaining 46 per cent reacted positively to it.
The survey, which was conducted between 13 and 26 June, also revealed that an overwhelming proportion of Singaporeans, or 80 per cent, agree that people in the LGBTQ community still face discrimination in Singapore.
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