Dear Singapore, Trans Students Should Be Affirmed In Schools And Pride Flags Should Not Be Ripped Off Storefronts
This was written by Prout, an LGBTQ+ meetup and support platform to build a safer space for the community to find meaningful connections and seek support. Follow us on Telegram for LGBTQ+ news and events at t.me/proutapp and like us on Instagram and Facebook.
It’s not even the end of January 2021 and Singapore has been rocked by two events affecting LGBTQs in Singapore: the Ministry of Education misgendering a transgender student who maintains her account of being denied hormonal therapy, and a man who walked into the Smol salad store and ripped off the store’s pride flag from the shopfront before throwing it at staff.
Such events are wholly inexcusable in an inclusive and progressive society like Singapore and are not becoming of a country who wants to attract the best talent to its shores.
A few things need to change here:
- The Ministry of Education and other institutions need to stop misgendering folks and address them by their preferred pronouns to show care for the student and prevent them from experiencing further trauma
- The Ministry of Education and other institutions need to indicate policies that make it safe for transgender folks to come forward given current tensions against the LGBTQ+ community
- The Ministry of Education and other institutions need to protect the right of transgender students to go for hormonal therapy and gender affirmation surgery while ensuring they can still be in school and transition how they present themselves as
- The Ministry of Home Affairs need to affirm their stance towards hurtful usage of LGBTQ-affirming symbols such as the pride flag and the ramifications it can cause with inciting hurt and trauma within the queer community
- The Ministry of Home Affairs need to affirm the safety of staff members at LGBTQ-affirming businesses by extending the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act to protect staff of LGBTQ-affirming businesses from physical threats
- The Ministry of Home Affairs needs to denounce the attack on Smol staff as an act of homophobia and that the attacker in question showed a propensity to inflict physical harm by throwing an object at another person
Prout remains committed to advocating for more inclusive businesses and spaces for the LGBTQ+ community in Singapore and beyond, including proposing and lobbying for measures to further this goal as well as recommending more supportive and safe spaces for the community to patronise.
We also stand behind the statements written by Pink Dot Singapore and Oogachaga surrounding the incident with the transgender student Ashlee.
— Written by Kyle Malinda-White, co-founder & CEO, Prout
