When I Was Young

By Alicia Wong, TODAY | Posted: 16 May 2009 0741 hrs

AWARE's new exco - elected at EGM on May 2, 2009

SINGAPORE: Their stand is clear: "AWARE has never promoted homosexuality".

In a statement on Friday evening, the 24-year-old Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) stressed that its stand has always "been identical to that of the government".

"We agree that the heterosexual family is the norm for our society," the women's advocacy group stated. "But homosexuals are also part of our society and they should be able to live freely and happily, free of any discrimination."

Their comments come in response to Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng's comment that homosexuality was "clearly a major issue to both sides" in the AWARE saga.

While welcoming Mr Wong's reminder of the need for restraint, respect and tolerance, AWARE said it was "most regrettable" that some people now think it has a "gay agenda" and that "wrongful allegations" continue to be perpetuated online and through other channels.

"This is totally unfounded," it stressed. The allegations by Dr Thio Su Mien and those she "handpicked" to take over AWARE's leadership were based "on the strength of bits of information taken out of context and strung together to create an imaginary and inaccurate picture of AWARE's activities", said AWARE.

But, the current executive committee is moving on, they said. With an expanded membership, they are now putting together programmes for the year.
- TODAY/so

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.