The Disapproving 70 percent

and how decriminalizing sex between males will change attitudes and win votes

For those not already in the know, apparently 7/10 Singaporeans "frown on Homosexuality." Mr Wang dissected this latest statistic and compared it to other acts many disapprove of, arguing, and he puts the case very high, that therefore homosexuality should be decriminalized. I think its very logical and sound.

Some have suggested Mr Wang has employed false analogies.

I believe that from their perspective, "homosexuality" is unnatural and morally depraved. In their brain, "homosexuality" falls under an entire different class altogether. It is unlike unlike premarital sex which is merely sinful in the "lust" aspect, or like theft, which is merely sinful in the "greed" aspect. I feel that their aversion to "homosexuality" is much greater, and from their perspective, to compare it with other "acts" which they also disapprove of, is somewhat misleading. They might have no answer to why, apart from their subjective feelings, the analogy is not acceptable but whether one should have sympathy with their worldview depends largely on how much you are willing to tolerate intolerance.

Public opinion polls in the US also suggest that a person's disapproval of premarital sex/adultery have no necessary correlation with their disapproval of same sex relations. (See below).

But one way to convince some of that 70 percent, is to ironically, change the law.

Learning from US History
Today, one might think that desegregation of schools and racial communities in the US is a given. Most White Americans today support desegregation. This was not the case in the past. What happened? The Civil Rights movement has a lot to do with it, but one should not forget the role of the law. The decision in Brown v. Board of Education had a huge impact. The Supreme Court found that desegregation was inherently unequal. Early reaction to that decision was very bad.

"Gov. George Wallace personally blocked the door to Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama to prevent the enrollment of two black students. This became the infamous "Stand at the Schoolhouse Door," during which Wallace declared "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."[15] He moved aside only when confronted by federal marshals and Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach." [Link]

Yes. Racists do become politicians and Governors. So might homophobes. But when this law came down, attitudes change pretty quickly. Then the Civil Rights Act was passed. This was way back in 1964. "I have a dream."? Remember?

10 years after 1964, 'the percentage of White Americans who said that Blacks should be allowed to live in any neighborhood increased from 65 percent to 87 percent (ISR Newsletter, 1975) (Myers, Social Pyschology). As time went by, the KKK fell from grace, and their racist ideas seen as wicked. One should never forget that in the 1920, " the organization included about 15% of the nation's eligible population, approximately 4–5 million men." Things can change very fast.

Today most Americans are arguing whether affirmative action should be a right. How far they have progressed! One can legislate against prejudice, and that will shape attitudes. That is why our Ministers should not be afraid of that so called "moral majority." When the law is passed, the moral majority might be one which is against "prejudice" based on sexuality. The law should do the right thing. And the powers that are might actually win support because of it.


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FN1 [The US public disapproval ratings and other ways to change public opinion]
Even today, a large percentage of Americans disapproved of same sex relations. In fact between 1973 to 1991, those disapproving of same sex sexual relation in Americans stand at 71 percent and it was only until 2002, that it was about 55 percent. (Public Opinion Pros) . If you read that link carefully, you might find some interesting nuggets.

"Remarkably, this shift cannot be due to a widespread change in traditional sexual mores. In the same period, the share of Americans saying premarital sex is always wrong stayed just about constant (ranging between 26-28 percent), and the proportion of Americans saying adultery is always wrong has, if anything, risen (from 76 to 80 percent)....In sum, Americans have not become more accepting of nontraditional sexuality in general; rather, they have become more tolerant of gay sexuality in particular."

"Two concurrent phenomena may well account for much of this change—as they may also account for the changing levels of affect measured by the feeling thermometers. First, the proportion of Americans who said they had a close friend or acquaintance who is gay or lesbian more than doubled in a decade, from one in five in 1985 to a majority in 1996. Much of this, no doubt, is a function of the willingness of gay people to come out to friends and family and to put a human face onto something that had been an abstract taboo. Second, Americans increasingly believe that homosexuals are born, not made: In 1983, only 16 percent agreed that homosexuality was something people were born with, while in 2004, 32 percent held that belief. Those attributing homosexuality to upbringing dropped from 25 percent to 14 percent, while the share of Americans saying that gayness was a choice remained steady."