Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore rejected a proposal to legalize sex between gay men while repealing laws that restricted oral and anal sex between heterosexuals, in the biggest changes to the city-state's criminal code in two decades.

The nation's Parliament yesterday repealed sections of the Penal Code that prohibit ``carnal intercourse against the order of nature,'' legalizing the practices between consenting heterosexual adults. Lawmakers rejected a petition to amend laws in which sex between men is deemed an act of ``gross indecency'' and carries a jail term of as much as two years.

``Singapore is basically a conservative society,'' Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday in a speech to lawmakers. ``By family in Singapore, we mean one man, one woman marrying, having children and bringing up children within that framework,'' Lee said. The government doesn't ``proactively enforce'' its gay-sex law, he said.

The changes are among dozens of amendments to the code, which represent the biggest revision of criminal law in Singapore since 1985. The government had been reviewing its sex laws since at least 2004, when a policeman was jailed for receiving oral sex from a teenage girl by a judge who said certain offences are repulsive in Asian culture.

By allowing anal sex between heterosexual couples and not between men, the new laws are ``selective and discriminatory,'' said Siew Kum Hong, the member of Parliament who introduced the petition.

The nation's legislature, which is dominated by Lee's ruling People's Action Party, passed other laws banning paid sex with anyone less than 18 years old, including organizing or participating in so-called child sex tours to other nations.

The bills will now be sent to President S.R. Nathan to be signed into law.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Singapore at sbennett9@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 24, 2007 01:01 EDT