Singapore fines channel for homosexuality

A television channel in Singapore has been fined for portraying homosexuality as acceptable.

The country's Media Development Authority yesterday ruled that decorating show Find and Design had normalised and promoted a gay lifestyle.

State broadcaster MediaCorpTV carried the show on its service Channel 5. The company was ordered to pay S$15,000 (£5,500).

A "gay relationship should not be presented as an acceptable family unit", said the Programme Advisory Committee for English Programmes.

Singapore law considers gay sex "an act of gross indecency" with a maximum sentence of two years in prison. The regulator recently fined another broadcaster for an advert on MTV Mandarin that featured a lesbian kiss.