NO GAY YULETIDE

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay happy,
From now on our troubles
Will be miles away.

It's official, there shall be no gay Yuletides in Singapore. The government's recent low-key acceptance of homosexuality appears to have its limits. After previously allowing eight separate public entertainment licenses for online gay portal fridae.com, the police have rejected an application for Snowball.04 - an all-night dance party catering to the island's homosexual population.

Singapore Bans Christmas Because It Might Be Gay
(Singapore)--Police in Singapore scuttled plans for an all-night Christmas dance party, saying Thursday it would likely be a gay event because the organizers had previously held a ball where most of the revelers "seemed to be homosexual."
Singapore, an ultramodern city-state of four million people, still bans gay sex, defining it as ``an act of gross indecency'' punishable by a maximum of two years in jail. There have been few prosecutions, however.

Free tabloid newspaper Today suggests that the decision may indicate a shift in the government's position:

One month before fridae.com's application was rejected, Senior Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan had warned of an "alarming Aids epidemic" here, pointing to the "promiscuous and unsafe lifestyle … practised by some gays".

MP Charles Chong thinks otherwise, but acknowledged that the Nation parties have become a well-known event - even as far away as Bangkok.

"I think we may be moving at too fast a pace for the authorities or conservatives to handle.

"It may be better to proceed at a pace that will not result in a backlash from conservatives."

The group that was seeking to host the party said that it would seek new licenses for future events – including a repeat of 2004's gay nation party. Whether future licenses are granted for such events will be a better indication of how much the island is liberalizing in terms of tolerance for homosexuality.

It's possible that the new Lee administration may be seeking to reverse some of the less-conservative aspects of his predecessor's administration - though i think that this is unlikely in this instance.

Personally, an all-night rave does not seem like a good way to spend the holiday - but I have no objections to others doing as they please.

That said, it's pretty obvious that staging a large homosexual event on a Christian holiday (or on a major Muslim holiday) would draw larger than normal criticisms. It's likely that the state was seeking to avoid possible backlash from conservatives. The test will come when fridae seeks permits for events on secular holidays.