"Today I Marry My Soulmate" - Lee Kuan Yew's Gay Grandson Gets Hitched To Boyfriend
The gay couple got married in South Africa where same-sex marriage is legal.
By Sadho Ram — 26 May 2019, 11:38 AM
Li Huanwu, the grandson of the late Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, married his male partner in Cape Town, South Africa
33-year-old Li Huanwu is the second son of Lee Hsien Yang, who is the younger brother of the current Singapore Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong.
The grandson of Singapore's late founding father was seen with his partner Heng Yirui in an Instagram post shared by Heng on Friday with a caption that read: "Today I marry my soulmate. Looking forward to a lifetime of moments like this with (Huanwu)."
The couple, dressed in matching white shirts and khaki pants, looked comfortable at a game reserve in Cape Town. The two had just finished their wedding ceremony when the photo was taken.
While speaking to South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Saturday, 25 May, Li Huanwu said: "Today would have been unimaginable to us growing up. We are overjoyed to share this occasion in the glowing company of friends and family."
The gay couple's wedding announcement came amid celebrations lauding Taiwan's recent legalisation of gay marriages last week – the first of its kind in Asia.
Meanwhile, South Africa legalised same-sex marriages back in 2006. The country has been a leading destination for gay weddings since then.
The news of Huanwu's wedding was well-received by social media users including Li's father Lee Hsien Yang, who expressed joy
I believe my father would have been thrilled to know this.
According to SCMP, Huanwu's father Lee Hsien Yang and his aunt Lee Wei Ling were both happy with the wedding and expressed joy.
And on Asian social media, the news elicited a largely positive reaction.
Messages of support drowned out expressions of disdain and disapproval over the gay wedding, with many expressing hope that it would herald a new era for the LGBT community in Singapore, where same-sex marriages are illegal under Section 377A.
Lee Kuan Yew, who passed away in 2015, held a supportive view on homosexuality, saying that it was "not a lifestyle"
"You can read the books you want, all the articles. You know that there's a genetic difference. They are born that way and that's that. So if two men or two women are that way, just leave them alone," LKY said in his book Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going.
In another book, The Wit & Wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew, published in 2007, the late founding father of Singapore was quoted as saying: "If in fact it is true, and I have asked doctors this, that you are genetically born a homosexual – because that's the nature of the genetic random transmission of genes – you can't help it. So why should we criminalise it?"