TV CHANNEL FINED FOR LESBIAN KISS

A Singapore pay television channel operator, StarHub Cable Vision, has been fined for showing a music video which depicts two girls kissing.

The video clip, for the song Sha Hai Zi (Silly Child) by pop singer Olivia Yan, was shown in November on the operator’s MTV Mandarin language music channel.

The operator was fined $7,200, with the country’s media regulator, The Media Development Authority, saying that “romanticised scenes of two girls kissing were shown and it portrayed the relationship as acceptable.”

The ad was “a breach of the TV advertising guidelines, which disallows advertisements that condone homosexuality,” added the regulator.

While gay sex is illegal in Singapore, with the possibility of a two year prison sentence, LGBT people are rarely prosecuted. Recently, sodomy between heterosexual couples was legalised, but remains illegal for gay men.

The island nation has consistently imposed harsh censorship on gay representation in the media and restricts public gay events such as Pride-related events.

StarHub Cable Vision said that it was disappointed but that it would comply with the ruling and pay the fine.