Singapore authorities have decriminalized same-sex relationships. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the country would repeal section 377A of the Penal Code, thereby decriminalizing same-sex relationships, but added that same-sex marriage would still be illegal in the city-state, CNN reported.

"Sex between consenting men should not be criminalized. There is no justification to prosecute people for it, nor to make it a crime," he said.

"I believe (repeal) is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will now accept. This will bring the law into line with current social mores, and I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans," the PM noted.

"Like every human society, we also have gay people in our midst. They are our fellow Singaporeans. They are our colleagues, our friends, our family members. They too want to live their own lives, participate in our community, and contribute fully to Singapore," he added.

However, the government will not change the country's legal definition of marriage as between a man and a woman, Lee Hsien Loong added, implying that laws would be strengthened to protect the definition. "We will protect the definition of marriage, as contained in the Interpretation Act and the Women's Charter, from being challenged constitutionally in the courts. We have to amend the constitution to protect it, and we will do so," he said, according to his official Twitter account.