When Singapore repealed a colonial-era law called Section 377A in 2023, researchers wanted to know whether changing the law actually changed how people talked about same-sex relationships. A new study from the National University of Singapore suggests the answer is yes — at least partly — and that gives researchers and advocates reason for cautious optimism.
The study, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, examined millions of social media posts and survey responses from four Asian countries that have recently changed their laws around same-sex relationships. India decriminalized gay sex in 2018. Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019. Singapore repealed Section 377A in 2023, and Thailand's marriage equality law took effect in early 2025.
Researchers analyzed 65,969 Instagram posts and 136,255 Facebook posts from before and after each country's legal change. They also looked at survey responses from 46,200 people across the region.
The findings were hopeful but nuanced. In Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, hostile language on Instagram declined in the months after reform. People who were already discussing LGBTQ+ topics started using less language that framed same-sex relationships as immoral or threatening to tradition. "This shows that legal reform does reshape the terrain of public expression, at least for those already paying attention," said Kokil Jaidka, an associate professor at NUS who led the research.
India showed a more complicated picture. While moral stereotyping fell, hostile language on Instagram actually increased over the longer period researchers could study. This reminds us that legal change does not automatically mean social change — at least not right away.
The study also found that where people had more freedom of the press and freedom of expression, online conversations improved more steeply and more lastingly. Taiwan ranked highest on both measures. Where those freedoms were weaker, the gains were smaller or more mixed.
"The law creates a moment of change, but the wider environment such as society and the media shapes whether that moment becomes lasting progress," Jaidka said.
One unexpected discovery: the AI tools commonly used to detect toxic language online sometimes flag ordinary LGBTQ+ identity words like "queer" or "gay" as harmful — not because they are slurs, but because they often appear in abusive content. This means these tools can accidentally silence the very communities they aim to protect.
Younger respondents in Singapore and India eventually reported more positive feelings about neighborhood safety for same-sex couples, even though perceptions initially dipped after reform. That gradual shift among young people suggests the seeds planted by legal change may take time to grow — but they do grow.
So while Asia's wave of LGBTQ+ legal reforms has not instantly transformed every conversation, the evidence points in a hopeful direction: changing the law changes the conversation, and over time, that matters.