A webpage published by the Singapore government on sexuality and health has drawn a huge response from both sides of the gay rights debate, reports said today.

Singapore is generally conservative on its stance towards gay rights. Sex between men is still criminalised under its penal code, and convictions can bring prison terms of up to two years.

A constitutional challenge to the legislation is currently pending at Singapore’s Court of Appeal.

The webpage published by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) defines homosexuality and bisexuality, answers questions homosexual teens or their parents might have, and provides advice on protection against sexually transmitted infections.

Advocates of equality praised it for presenting an objective view of sexuality.

“It is very welcome to see a government agency show leadership in actively working to dispel myths and misconceptions that too frequently lead to the punishing social exclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and queer people,” said Jolene Tan, a senior manager at the Association of Women for Action and Research.

There has also been criticism of the page.

Pastor Lawrence Khong of Faith Community Baptist Church told mypaper.sg that it “gives the impression that HPB condones same-sex relationships and promotes the homosexual practice as something normal”.

He also objected to the inclusion of counselling group Oogachaga, which he called “pro-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender)”.

HPB has since removed Oogachaga from the webpage. It also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to “encouraging heterosexual married couples to have healthy relationships and to build stable nuclear and extended family units”.

Although it began to go viral on social media over the last week, the webpage had actually been published in November.

A spokesperson for the board told local media that it “serves as a one-stop resource to provide factual information on sexuality and sexually transmitted infections/HIV prevention from a public health perspective”.

- dpa