Term As Nominated Member of Parliament
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From 18 January 2007, Thio was appointed a Nominated Member of Parliament of the 11th Session of the Parliament of Singapore for a two-and-a-half-year term.
In October 2007, the Parliament of Singapore reviewed the Penal Code. In the course of doing so, it decided not to repeal section 377A of the Code and thus continued to criminalise sexual activity between males. In the course of the debate in Parliament, Thio gave a speech to support the continued criminalisation of sexual activity between males, and likened gay sex to "shoving a straw up your nose to drink." She claimed to have support from a majority of Singaporeans, and stated she spoke "at the risk of being burned at the stake by militant activists." At the same time, Thio mentioned the existence of an active gay agenda that seeks to lobby the government and radically change sexual norms. It was later noted by Janadas Devan that the speech was heavily laced with phrases and imagery from the Dominionist movement.
The Internet subsequently saw a flood of websites heavily rebutting Thio's speech, most of which focused on her lurid straw-up-the-nose analogy. Efforts were even taken by some to rebut the pointers she raised, such as the SingaporePeasants blog-site. Thio was also criticised by local journalist Janadas Devan in a feature article in The Straits Times on 27 October, titled "377A debate and the rewriting of pluralism". Another Straits Times writer, Chua Mui Hoong, also wrote an article titled "Rules of Engagement for God and Politics" on 16 November 2007. In it, Chua acknowledged Thio's position in her speech that secularism could challenge religion. However, Chua disagreed that religion has been antagonised in Singapore, and encouraged that specific explanation be given as to how the repeal of a law would in reality harm the Singaporean society.
Thio's speech also drew the criticism of Michael Kirby, then a judge of the High Court of Australia, who referenced it in a speech he delivered in Brisbane on 16 November 2007. The content of his speech was subsequently published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 19 November 2007.
During the debate, Thio revealed that playwright Alfian Sa'at had sent her a short email saying, among other things, that "I hope I outlive you long enough to see the repeal of 377A and on that day I will piss on your grave." Sa'at later took responsibility for the email, saying it was sent in a moment of folly in response to the rumour that Thio had called the police to complain about a "Pink Picnic" some members of the gay community were organising in the Botanic Gardens. Thio later denied the allegation, and Sa'at apologised. Subsequently, in November 2007, Thio was alerted by the media to an anonymous threatening letter addressed to her stating: "We know where you work, we'll send people there to hunt you down". Thio made a police report the same day.
Read more about this topic: Thio Li-ann
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