In a sign that the times they are a-changin', envelop-pushing publication Vice ran a piece recently on June 22, 2016, titled, "What It's Like to Be Young and Gay in Singapore".

It featured a series of short interviews with four gay people they identified who frequented Tantric, a gay bar in Singapore.

Interesting to note is that given the taboo nature of the topic, two of the interviewees had their photos taken to accompany the article.

And even though the piece took the traditional route of introducing the topic of homosexuality via the hackneyed Section 377A of Singapore's Penal Code, it is the responses of those interviewed that might change your perspective of the young and gay in Singapore.

Far from being angry or resigned to fate, their expectations are well-managed,

For example, Rave, a 28-yer-old interviewee, said:

I would move if I wanted to get married or adopt. I have plans for the UK, or any country that accepts me. But if we keep working and pushing for things like openness and awareness, then the new generations will start to accept it. I think that's really the time when the whole nation can accept it because if you do a sudden push, there will be a pushback.

Another interviewee, Jonathan, 20, captured perfectly the chasm in mindset between the younger and older generation, and where things are hopefully getting more progressive:

I'm still hiding it from them. I haven't told my parents because they're quite religious. I think I will always hide it from them. I told my sister last year because I'm very close to her, and I wanted to tell her about this guy I was dating. She took it quite well.

Other key takeaways from the piece:

- Venues targeting gay people are increasingly frequented by straight people.

- Older people are generally the ones who are more conservative and take issue with homosexuality, but their mindsets can change over time.

- Singapore has inherited a British colonial system of persecution, but systems in Singapore are fluid, be it the society or the law, where there is room for norms to change in the future.

- Lastly, gay people are more fun to be around than straight people.

H/T Vice

Top photo via

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