Mobilizing Gay Singapore: Rights and Resistance in an Authoritarian State

Within the specific context of Mobilizing Gay Singapore, pragmatic resistance takes the form of activists avoiding direct conflict with the state, ensuring the legality of the movement's public actions, making narrow claims that both appeal to the value of social stability and are careful to no...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Law & society review 2015, Vol.49 (3), p.795-797
Main Author: Wilson, Joshua C.
Format: Review
Language:English
Subjects:
Censorship
Gays & lesbians
Homosexuality
Political activism
Pragmatism
Public awareness
Social activism
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Summary:Within the specific context of Mobilizing Gay Singapore, pragmatic resistance takes the form of activists avoiding direct conflict with the state, ensuring the legality of the movement's public actions, making narrow claims that both appeal to the value of social stability and are careful to not be perceived as broader rights claims, and, finally, appealing to the need to preserve a certain international image of Singapore. Media censorship rules that ban nondeviant portrayals of homosexuality are undermined by activists finding ways to place stories in the media that do not appear to publicize gay issues as such (e.g., focusing on a licensing denial for a gay organization), but that subsequently lead to stories and letters to the editor that raise issues about the treatment of gays and ultimately create public awareness.
ISSN:0023-9216
1540-5893
DOI:10.1111/lasr.12156