On 26 May 2016, at 5:47 PM, <nalini(_dot_)elkins(_at_)insidethestack(_dot_)com>
<nalini(_dot_)elkins(_at_)insidethestack(_dot_)com> wrote:
He said that he doubted that there would be any problem at all in Singapore.
He also suggested that I contact the Singapore Consulate General in San
Francisco. (Which I will do once they open)
I will ask them the following questions:
1. If two gay men with a baby (or child) come in to Singapore customs
together, will there be a problem?
2. If two gay men with a baby (or child) walk the streets of Singapore
together, will there be a problem? Will they be harassed or arrested?
3. If two gay men with a baby (or child) check into a hotel in Singapore
together, will there be a problem? Will they be harassed or arrested?
“Oh, yes. We are totally going to harass visitors to our country,” said no
consulate spokesperson ever.
4. If two gay men with a baby (or child) need to go to a hospital or a doctor
because the baby (child) is ill, will there be a problem? Will they be
prevented in any way from being with the child? Will they be harassed or
arrested?
The question is not whether the hospital staff will have the gay men arrested.
They won’t. It’s whether the hospital staff will consider them to be actual
parents. There are medical decisions only parents can make such as authorising
surgery, or authorizing an epinephrine injection for a severe allergic
reaction. In most jurisdictions including Singapore injecting a child with
epinephrine is assault unless there is either parental consent or it’s a
life-or-death situation. If the child’s parent is not there, medical staff is
force to wait until it becomes a life-or-death situation. Note that even though
sex between women is not criminalized, this issue affects lesbian couples just
as much. Same for the secondary issue of allowing them to be in the room with
the child.
Yoav