Chapter 12: Religion, Family, and Politics: Anti-genderist Discourses in Singapore Muslim Friday Sermons from State-supported Religious Organizations

At the 2022 National Day Rally, the Singapore state announced the planned repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code, which criminalized men's same-sex relationships (Lee, 2022). This led to a rise in conservative, anti-gender discourses in society surrounding the issue of the heteronormative, nuclear family. The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (also known as MUIS), which is the prime Islamic authority in Singapore that is also a statutory board that is funded by the government, was one of these conservative bodies that began spouting such homophobic and anti-genderism discourses, specifically in its weekly Friday sermons. This chapter will draw on theoretical concepts of affective regimes and indexicality to analyze the ways in which MUIS constructs and reinforces these subtly negative attitudes toward LGBTQ+ individuals, as part of its alignment with the state's cisheteronormative national ideologies. These discourses promote a rigid definition of family, marriage, and parenthood, which contribute to this continuous perpetuation of homophobia and anti-genderism. This study serves as a linguistic analysis of how institutional discourses influence society, as in an investigation of language and power. Overall, this chapter will highlight the ways in which conservative religious institutions, as a potential extension of the state, continue to resist societal change toward inclusivity, and the findings reiterate the need for ongoing efforts to combat discrimination and promote acceptance.