A number of civil rights organisations and individual activists have undersigned a statement calling for "compassion, dialogue and mutual understanding on LGBTQ issues", in light of current tension.
At press time, 244 individuals, as well as 11 organisations including AWARE, Free Community Church, MARUAH, the Singapore Anti-Death Penalthy Campaign and Women and Law in Islam (WALI) Working Group, are on the list.
The statement's key address is to the Wear White online campaign started by Singaporean religious teacher Ustaz Noor Deros, which encourages Muslims to return to "fitrah", which means "(the) natural" in Arabic.
The undersignees see the campaign as "a sign of a 'culture war' that has taken root in Singapore" and expect it "will pose a significant challenge in building a harmonious society that thrives on diversity".
The statement also reminds of the Singapore pledge, which imposes building "a democratic society, based on justice and equality" and warns that the current situation is threatening these principles."No individual or group in a democracy should impinge on others in an unjust manner. Our freedom to freely express ourselves according to our conscience must come with the reciprocal responsility to accord the same freedom to other people. This holds true even if these others hold beliefs that deeply contradict our own."
Read the full statement here.
Earlier this year, a group of 12 independent activist organisations — MARUAH included — launched a similarly structured statement warning the government of increasing xenophobia in Singapore.
Photo: Screenshot of website hosting the statement
A number of civil rights organisations and individual activists have undersigned a statement calling for "compassion, dialogue and mutual understanding on LGBTQ issues", in light of current tension.
At press time, 244 individuals, as well as 11 organisations including AWARE, Free Community Church, MARUAH, the Singapore Anti-Death Penalthy Campaign and Women and Law in Islam (WALI) Working Group, are on the list.
The statement's key address is to the Wear White online campaign started by Singaporean religious teacher Ustaz Noor Deros, which encourages Muslims to return to "fitrah", which means "(the) natural" in Arabic.
The undersignees see the campaign as "a sign of a 'culture war' that has taken root in Singapore" and expect it "will pose a significant challenge in building a harmonious society that thrives on diversity".
The statement also reminds of the Singapore pledge, which imposes building "a democratic society, based on justice and equality" and warns that the current situation is threatening these principles."No individual or group in a democracy should impinge on others in an unjust manner. Our freedom to freely express ourselves according to our conscience must come with the reciprocal responsility to accord the same freedom to other people. This holds true even if these others hold beliefs that deeply contradict our own."
Read the full statement here.
Earlier this year, a group of 12 independent activist organisations — MARUAH included — launched a similarly structured statement warning the government of increasing xenophobia in Singapore.
Photo: Screenshot of website hosting the statement