Abstract

Pinkwashing and homonationalism are recent terms coined to describe the identification of sexual minorities with the neoliberal state; the former is usually used to critique certain policies within the State of Israel meant to promote its society as tolerant of diversity, the latter with the movement for same-sex marriage and participation in the armed services in the United States. This essay extends the application of these terms to Singapore, where between 2001 and 2004 the state tentatively and partially relaxed its restrictions on homosexual activity (e.g., the “Nation Parties”) in the hope of attracting the “creative class” to the island and its economy, only to reinstate prohibitions when those burgeoning activities were seen as conflicting with Singapore’s ideology of “Asian values.” Singapore today remains a nation where male homosexuality is illegal but domicile to a discreet gay subculture.

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