“Choong is demonstrably familiar with the impacts of 377A on Singapore’s LGBTQ+ community. He was the executive director of Oogachaga, Singapore’s only LGBTQ+ dedicated counselling and community education organisation, from 2009 to 2015. He has also been involved with two of the country’s three Supreme Court challenges to the constitutionality of 377A.

In 2011, same-sex couple Lim Meng Suang and Kenneth Chee filed Singapore’s second ever Supreme Court challenge to 377A. The couple of 15 years at the time argued the law was inconsistent with Article 12 of the Constitution, which states everyone is “equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law”.

Choong recalls: “I wrote in a supporting affidavit as the head of Oogachaga highlighting how the existence of the law itself can actually cause a lot of detrimental results to a lot of people, especially gay and bisexual men in Singapore.””

“Bryan Choong, chair of LGBTQ advocacy group Oogachaga, said it was a historical moment for activists who have been campaigning for a repeal of the law known as Section 377A for 15 years. But he added that LGBT couples and families also “have the right to be recognised and protected”.”

““A lot of public agencies don’t want to talk about those issues with 377A in place. I don’t think the government system is monolithic; it’s made up of individuals who are passionate and compassionate. People want change but as long as the overarching law itself prevents them from moving forward, their hands are tied,” asserts the 45-year-old, who credits his mother for his resolve to lock horns with the constitution — an endeavour some labelled a non-starter.

“Both of us are very independent individuals and I share her philosophy that if you want something changed, don’t wait for somebody to do it.””

“Bryan Choong chairs Oogachaga, a Singapore group that works with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer (LGBTQ+) community. He says the obstacles are considerable, but there has been some improvement. “For the longest time, very few LGBTQ+ organisations were allowed to register legally,” he says.

“This hampered our ability to mobilise resources and raise funds. Only in the past few years, LGBTQ+ organisations delivering community services have been allowed to register. Advocacy organisations still face many restrictions.””

“Mr Ong, Mr Bryan Choong, chairman of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) non-profit organisation Oogachaga, and retired general practitioner Roy Tan launched challenges to the law in 2019, contending that it was inconsistent with Singapore’s Constitution - the highest law of the land.

Their cases resulted in the Court of Appeal declaring in February this year that Section 377A was entirely unenforceable.

Mr Choong, 45, said he hopes the law’s repeal will create a space for families to reconcile their differences.

He said: “A lot of LGBTQ people in my generation left the country not just because of the law but because of the whole environment surrounding it. Hopefully after repeal, they will feel that the country is ready for them.””

“Leow Yangfa, executive director of the Singaporean LGBTQ community organization Oogachaga, tells TIME that the move “sends an important signal, from the government, that we are taking the first step towards equality and progress for the LGBTQ community.””

“Oogachaga, a Singaporean LGBTQ community organization, said it was “relieved and hopeful” to learn of the repeal. This can “be a chance to start healing the hurts that have taken place,” it said.”

““Some people do feel that a lot more can be done,” said Bryan Choong, chair of LGBTQ advocacy group Oogachaga, adding that the 377A repeal was “long overdue”.”

“Singapore LGBTQ community nonprofit Oogachaga sent Mashable a separate statement written by a coalition of 22 LGBTQ organisations, which said that they are “relieved” by the repeal, and called it “a win for humanity.” However, the group similarly stressed that this is still “the first step on a long road towards full equality for LGBTQ+ people in Singapore.””

“In a joint statement by Bryan Choong, chairman of Oogachaga and Leow Yangfa, executive director of Oogachaga, the pair shared that they welcomed debate about the advantages of decriminalising “consensual intimacy” between adult men in private.

They also noted that there is “no need” for families and marriage to be protected from the LGBTQ+ community, as many of these individuals are already in them.”

““As organisations supporting equality and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community in Singapore, we are relieved by the government’s intention to repeal Section 377A, which criminalises sex between men,” said the statement signed by 22 organizations including Pink Dot SG, Oogachaga and Ready4Repeal.”

“Pengarah Eksekutif badan tidak meraih keuntungan lesbian, gay, biseksual dan transgender (LGBT) Oogachaga, Encik Leow Yangfa berkata berita itu memberikan kelegaan kepada masyarakat dan keluarga LGBT di sini.

”Kami amat bersyukur kepada Perdana Menteri Lee dan juga pasukan kabinetnya.

”Daripada segi politik, ini merupakan satu langkah penting bagi kebaikan lebih meluas untuk Singapura, bagi warga dan keluarga LGBT Singapura. Ia juga satu langkah penting dalam menjadikan Singapura lebih inklusif,” katanya.

Beliau turut menambah pihaknya tiada rancangan serta-merta untuk mengemukakan sebarang cabaran lain terhadap Perlembagaan.”

“A middle-aged woman came into the Oogachaga office, looking distraught. Her son had come out to her as gay and said he had a boyfriend, and she needed help to deal with the situation.

Mr Leow Yangfa, who is the executive director of the non-profit group that offers counselling and community services for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community, spoke to her. He urged her to support and accept him.”

“Looking beyond the community, Mr Leow and Mr Choong from Oogachaga said that repealing 377A will not only improve the lives of LGBTQ Singaporeans and their families.

”It will also bring other benefits to business and trade, and boost our international reputation as a progressive, developed economy.””

“For LGBTQ community groups, any move by the Government to introduce further legislation or constitutional amendments that signal they are unequal citizens is disappointing.

”Such a decision will undermine the secular character of our Constitution, codify further discrimination into supreme law, and tie the hands of future Parliaments,” said 22 groups, including Pink Dot SG, Oogachaga and Action for Aids Singapore, in a joint statement.”

“Leow Yangfa, executive director of the Singaporean LGBTQ+ charity Oogachaga, said: “We are grateful that the Singapore government will repeal Section 377A through parliament. This means a lot to the LGBT community.

“Decriminalisation will not only improve the lives of LGBT people and their families, but will bring other obvious benefits to business, trade and Singapore’s international reputation, making this announcement welcome on many fronts.

“We eagerly look forward to constructive debate in Parliament in the coming months.”.”

“A media statement issued by Oogachaga’s chairman Bryan Choong and executive director Leow Yangfa also urged Members of Parliament to “avoid conflating the repeal of 377A with other issues”.

”LGBTQ Singaporeans have families, have children, have committed relationships and are already married. Many LGBTQ Singaporeans may also have no desire to marry. There is no need for families and marriage to be protected from the LGBTQ community, as many of us are already in them,” it said.”

“Among attendees at this year’s NDR are Leow Yangfa, the executive director of LGBT community organisation Oogachaga, and Benjamin Xue, the co-founder of LGBT youth community group Young Out Here.”

““For Oogachaga and, to the best of our knowledge, others in the local LGBTQ community, there are no immediate plans to mount legal challenges to redefine marriage as it presently stands in the Women’s Charter,” executive director Leow Yangfa added.

But Mr Leow said that “when 377A is repealed, hopefully in the near future”, the community will instead prioritise providing support for fellow LGBTQ Singaporeans.

“Regarding the status of marriage, we are unsure how else the Government can safeguard ‘the current legal position on marriage’ from being challenged in the courts,” he said.
“The current position is already clearly instituted in legislation.””

“In response to Mr Shanmugam’s comments, Mr Leow Yangfa, the executive director of LGBTQ rights group Oogachaga, told TODAY: “We are heartened to hear from the minister that the Government is clearly paving the way towards repealing 377A in Singapore.”

He added: “For Oogachaga and, to the best of our knowledge, others in the local LGBTQ community, there are no immediate plans to mount legal challenges to redefine marriage as it presently stands in the Women’s Charter.”

He said that “when 377A is repealed, hopefully in the near future”, the LGBTQ community’s immediate priorities will unlikely be to seek same-sex marriage or to redefine families, but to provide support for LGBTQ Singaporeans. ”

“Mr Leow Yangfa, executive director of Oogachaga, told TODAY: “Any public health messages should be for everyone who is sexually active, regardless of their sexual identity, gender identity and relationship status.

“In particular, we find the public health messages put out by MOH, NCID (National Centre for Infectious Diseases) and AFA Singapore particularly helpful, some of which we have reproduced and shared on our social media.””

“LGBT非盈利组织Oogachaga执行董事Leow Yangfa表示，担心会用更多人骚扰LGBT群体。他透露，Oogachaga最近就接到更多公众的电话和邮件，指责他们在要求废除第377A节条文方面“说太多话”。”

“Mr Leow Yangfa, executive director of LGBTQ non-profit organisation Oogachaga, was worried that there would be increased incidences of harassment towards members of the LGBTQ community.

As it is, he said that the Oogachaga office has recently been receiving phone calls and emails from concerned members of the public accusing them of “making too much noise” by advocating for the repeal of Section 377A, that they were “too loud”.

He added that these were not violent or threatening in nature, but some callers quoted “religious verses”, suggesting that they were echoing what they read and heard from their community leaders.”

“Mr Leow Yangfa, executive director of Oogachaga, a non-profit that works with the LGBTQ community, said that there have been other instances where people spread misinformation to young people in schools “often under the guise of sexuality education that includes content that is drawn from religious sources, rather than evidence-based research”.

Mr Leow said: “Anecdotally, we hear from students in other schools here that inappropriate and sometimes offensive language is used to describe the LGBTQ community, and it is often difficult for students to determine if what is being shared by their teachers and counsellors is evidence-based fact or just personal opinions.

“The damage has been done through the offensive stereotyping of LGBTQ people as diseased, immoral, criminal, violent and promiscuous. These are clearly the opinions of the presenter and not backed by scientific evidence.””

“Mr Leow Yangfa, the executive director of Oogachaga, tells us that he wasn’t surprised at the low level of awareness of the law. Oogachaga is a local non-profit organisation working with the LGBTQ+ community.

He said via email: “(This is) especially since it is irrelevant to many and does not directly impact the vast majority of people in Singapore who are not part of the LGBTQ+ community.” ”

“MP Henry Kwek (PAP-Kebun Baru) arrived at about 3.20pm and spoke to several LGBT community groups that had set up stalls at the event, including Oogachaga, Quasa SG and TransBefrienders.”

“Mr Leow Yangfa, executive director of LGBT counselling group Oogachaga, said that Mr Kwek had stopped by his organisation’s booth and they talked about the work his group was engaging in.

”It’s certainly a hopeful indication that finally we (Pink Dot) are being recognised as a community event,” he said. ”

“Leow Yangfa, a social worker and executive director of LGBT counselling group Oogachaga, said community groups were consulted on a range of issues including discrimination and harassment of individuals and groups, registration of LGBT organisations, the safety of transgender students in schools, and repealing Section 377A.

“I am hopeful that 377A will be repealed in the near future. But we do not just hope. We want to make it happen with the help and support of local allies and, hopefully, the government too,” said Leow.”

“Speaking with the local tabloid TODAY, Oogachaga Executive Director Yangfa Leow said he “applaud[ed] this first time effort by the Singapore Government” and hoped “that the qualitative data collected… will support and augment all the issues previously raised by… local LGBTQ community organizations.””

““We applaud this first time effort by the Singapore Government, through Reach, to seek the public’s views on the local LGBTQ community, and on the repeal of section 377A,” said Mr Leow.

”We sincerely hope that the qualitative data collected from the ‘more than 30,000 responses’ will support and augment all the issues previously raised by Oogachaga, Pink Dot SG, Sayoni, Transgender SG and other local LGBTQ community organisations through our advocacy efforts over the years.””

“The survey gained traction on social media between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, with well-known LGBT activist groups Oogachaga and Pink Dot SG pushing out a call for people to share their views through the survey. ”

“Mr Leow Yangfa, executive director of LGBT+ non-profit organisation Oogachaga, said he “agreed wholeheartedly” that there has been a shift in attitudes towards the community since 15 years ago.

He pointed to studies by the Institute of Policy Studies and a survey done by TODAY as examples indicating this shift, where people are becoming more open to LGBT+ people.

Mr Clement Tan, speaking on behalf of LGBT+ advocacy group Pink Dot SG, told TODAY the group is “glad that Mr Shanmugam openly acknowledged the rejection and hurt faced by the LGBTQ+ community in Parliament”.

Agreeing, Mr Leow said that Oogachaga is “especially grateful” to the minister for acknowledging that “many members of Singapore’s LGBT+ community have felt that our experiences of rejection have been ignored”.

”This display of empathy has been noted, and goes a small way towards healing some of the hurts we feel,” Mr Leow added.”

“The challenges were mounted by: Disc jockey Johnson Ong Ming, retired general practitioner Roy Tan Seng Kee and Bryan Choong Chee Hoong, the former executive director of LGBT non-profit organisation Oogachaga.”

“The challenges were mounted by disc jockey Johnson Ong Ming, 45; former executive director of advocacy group Oogachaga Bryan Choong, 44; and retired general practitioner Roy Tan Seng Kee, 62.”

“The five-judge panel dismissed challenges brought by three men who argued that the law should be struck down as it violates their constitutional rights.

The trio were: Dr Roy Tan Seng Kee, a retired general practitioner and an activist for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights; Mr Johnson Ong Ming, a disc jockey; and Mr Bryan Choong, the former executive director of LGBT non-profit organisation Oogachaga.”

““It was the first of its kind video coming from a minority group on a relationship between mother and son [and] was so affirming,” Hilmi, a centre manager at local LGBTQ+ organization Oogachaga told BBC News.

”As a queer Malay man, I am saddened to see a video that expresses unconditional love [being] taken down abruptly due to societal pressure from a group of people with conservative values.””