Singapore Protesters Detained At Tiny LGBT Rights Demo

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Singapore protesters detained at tiny LGBT rights demo

Singapore, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :Three LGBT rights protesters have been arrested in Singapore after taking part in a tiny, rare demonstration triggered by the government's alleged mistreatment of a transgender student, police said Wednesday.

The tightly-regulated city-state has tough laws against public protests, which are usually not allowed without a police permit -- rarely granted -- regardless of the number attending.

The trigger for the demonstration was claims the ministry had blocked a transgender student from receiving hormone therapy, an allegation officials have denied.

Three protestors, aged between 19 and 32, were arrested for taking part in a public assembly without a permit after ignoring warnings to disband, police said.

They have been released on bail while investigations continue.

Protesters said LGBT pupils face a broad range of discrimination in the conservative country.

This includes an insistence by schools that students' clothes and hair conform to gender "norms" and a refusal to use the appropriate pronouns requested by students.

"LGBTQ students in school aren't treated well," Averyn Thng, a 23-year-old activist who took part in the protest but was not arrested, told AFP.

"The government doesn't see us as important enough to be protected."The education ministry had no immediate comment.