Singapore censors fine local TV station for airing show featuring gay couple
SINGAPORE — A Singapore television station has been fined $11,000 over an episode of a home decor show that featured a gay couple and their adopted baby.
The Media Development Authority slapped MediaCorp TV Channel 5 with the fine for airing a show it said illegally "promotes a gay lifestyle."
The episode of a series called "Find and Design" featured a gay couple wanting to transform their game room into a new nursery for their adopted baby.
The authority said the presenter's congratulations and acknowledgment of them as a family unit was done "in a way which normalizes their gay lifestyle and unconventional family setup."
The episode was in breach of regulations in Singapore on free-to-air television programming which disallow content that promotes, justifies or glamorized gay lifestyles.
Earlier this month, the authority fined a Singapore cable television operator - StarHub Cable Vision - $7,200 for airing a commercial that showed two lesbians kissing.
Under Singapore law, gay sex is deemed "an act of gross indecency," punishable by a maximum of two years in jail.
Despite the official ban on gay sex, there have been few prosecutions. However, authorities have banned gay festivals and censored gay films, saying homosexuality should not be advocated as a lifestyle choice.
