Singapore’s parliament repealed Law 377A, which criminalized same-sex sexual relations, effectively legalizing homosexuality in the country. The law, which provided for sentences of up to two years in prison, dated back to the colonial period of the British Empire and was maintained even after 1965, the year Singapore became an independent republic. The government had previously said it would keep it in place but not enforce it, in an attempt to satisfy both those calling for its repeal and the more conservative part of the country (which is quite large).
At the same time, parliament amended the constitution to strengthen the existing definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman – a provision that will make the legalization of same-sex marriages much more difficult in the future.
