Organised by a group of Singaporeans calling themselves Pink Dot Sg - a reference to Singapore being frequently referred to as a little red dot, the event is scheduled to take place on May 16 at at the Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park, the only locale where outdoor demonstrations are permitted.
Last September, Roy Tan, a gay Singaporean man and well-known member of the community, registered with the National Parks Board to stage an event on Nov 15 to "set a precedent to make subsequent gay pride parades easier." He told the media that even if he were the only one at the park for the event, he would march round the place holding a placard on Section 377A - a section of the penal code that criminalises gay sex. The event, which was to be the first LGBT protest, eventually morphed into Pink Dot Sg when more individuals hopped aboard.
All Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents are legally allowed to participate in the event, which has already been approved by the National Parks Board. Permanent residents need only apply for a police permit if they want to organise a demonstration themselves or make a speech at the event. Foreigners are welcome to observe from the sidelines even though under current regulations, they must not take part.
Pink Dot Sg issued a press release on April 17 to announce the event:
All Singaporeans should have the freedom to love, regardless of their sexual orientation. With this belief, a group of like-minded volunteers are encouraging Singaporeans to gather at Hong Lim Park on 16th May 2009, in support for an inclusive Singapore - free of bigotry towards LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Singaporeans.
Through the event, Pink Dot Sg hopes to show that Singapore can be a better society if it breaks down the barriers to understanding. The event on May 16th will be Singapore's first public showing of support for an LGBT cause. However, it is open to everyone - young and old, straight and gay.
The topic of homosexuality was last broached openly more than a year ago, during Parliamentary debates on Section 377A - the penal code that criminalises homosexual acts. Not much has changed for LGBT Singaporeans since then, many of whom continue to live secret lives, afraid of compromising relationships with their family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
Today, many Singaporeans harbour negative impressions about the LGBT community. Pink Dot Sg believes this may be due to a limited understanding amongst the populace. Discordant laws and policies aside, ignorance and fear are potent catalysts for prejudice and bigotry. This goes against the grain of a diverse and inclusive Singapore.
Everyone assumes that all Singaporeans have the freedom to love� The event on May 16th invites all Singaporeans to ponder this basic freedom and what it means for those who live their lives, hiding their true selves from the people they love.
Roy Tan, a member of the Pink Dot Sg organizing committee, says, "As Singaporeans, we have come to accept everyone's right to love across racial, cultural and religious barriers. The only line left to cross is that of sexual orientation. The event is for everyone, regardless of their age, sexual orientation and political beliefs. It is a gathering of people who believe in the freedom to love and to lend their support towards open-mindedness and understanding. No prior registration is required. Just show up and if possible, come dressed in pink!"
Details
Date/time: May 16, Sat, 4.30pm
Venue: Hong Lim Park, Singapore
You can register your attendance on the event's Facebook page: The first-ever official LGBT public gathering in Singapore! For updates, visit Pinkdot.sg
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Reader's Comments
My mom will also want to participate.
LET'S REVISIT 'STONEWALL' FOR THE SHAKE OF
OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN SINGAPORE; THIS SHOULD BE A WAKE-UP CALL NOT CUCUMBER SANDWICH AND LEMONADE PARTY.
THE DRAG QUEENS OF STONEWALL HAD ENOUGH AND THEY ACTED UPON THEIR FRUSTRATION AND ANGER...
CAN' T YOU MEASURE TO THEM ?
JP.SOLEAU/33LONGCHAMP
I suggest the money raised be channelled to one of the mainstream charities such as a old folks home, instead of giving to AfA. This is to prevent others saying that we are giving to our own kind. This is to symbolise that GLBT are also contributing to the benefit of others in society and not just ourselves.
its not homosexuals vs religion:
- look up recent press statements by moderates like anglican church of england's rowan williams, american priest gene robinson,barack obama and tony blair support equal rights for homosexuals, also the signatory nations for the UN anti-gay discriminatory thingy have major religious groups amongst their populations
its not homosexuals vs tradition:
- look up SEAsian scholars work on traditional social customs, an 'alternative' lifestyle was very mainstream in countries like thailand for example or china's emperor's dalliances with male cocubines
- tradition is about how far back you want to draw the line, it is a very weak argument
the point is to marginalize the christian fundamentalists, the way the press marginalize the taliban, and not us.
I will wear a pink dot Tshirt in UK on that day as a token of moral support.
There seems to be a duplicate group set up as an individual with 255 people as friends - confusing!
In any case, i fully support this movement, I will be supporting from the sideline, as I am a "foreigner" although i have set up home and "family" here with my doggies haha!
CHICAGO Sexual orientation and sexual labels. Gender crossing and gender bending. These aren't X-rated or adults-only topics but rather subjects that young people talk about as they figure out where they fit in, said a panel of experts at a weekend conference of the Council on Contemporary Families here.
"Youth are saying they don't want to be defined by gender or orientation," Chicago psychologist Braden Berkey told those attending a panel on "Gender in the Next Generation" on the final day of the conference Saturday.
FAMILIES: Life, roles changing as couples seek balance
Berkey is founding director of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Institute at the Center on Halsted, which opened in 2007 to offer support services and programming for the area's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. He talked about the evolution of sexual and gender labels and how young people today are trying to dissolve them. He says the terms created in the early days, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, are giving way to other descriptions, such as polygender or multisex. Young people, he says, reject narrow gender definitions and say they don't want to be defined by their sexuality.
Wa lau!
I hope other people of whatever persuasion will also see this as an opportunity to show that many people in Singapore disagree with the fundamentalists, and will join in to make a stand for understanding, acceptance and diversity.
Singaporeans and their supporters abroad can always use their imaginations as to how to join in in some way, as well as those at work on the day in SG itself.
Don't worry about the fakes and fundies who will try all the tricks in the book to dampen enthusiasm. This is the most exciting thing to happen in a long time.
Yes its legal ahahahha likee that means anything in singapore
ill be there in case it gets nasty
bring it on
If you must work on that day, wear pink so your fellow office members will see your support.
Don't we all wish we could live our lives not defined by whom we choose to love. To those claiming they don't want to be defined by their sexuality, I have news for you. If you choose to love someone of your own sex, you are automatically so identified whether you want to be or not. It is only through many years of people choosing to be identified by their sexuality that you have the freedoms you have. And if you don't get off your butts and support LGBT causes and events, you will never be free to NOT be defined by your sexuality!
I wish you all much luck and wish I could be there.
That sounds a Lot like: "Any interested foreign reporters, media personnel, tourists and observers are free to report back internationally on the Official Singaporean government reaction to this gathering, bearing in mind the fact that the vast majority of countries that use Singapore as a financial and business centre and base of operations have Zero problem with homosexuality, and have taken substantial steps to give gay men and lesbian women a lot of equal civil, cultural and social rights - unlike Singapore's government."
Now, I don't live under Singapore's benign Orwellian government, where citizens are equal and free to be and do Anything that they want - as long as the Government approve, and have authorised it (including the Arts!) - but, as always in any and every culture/society, citizens get the Government that they ALLOW, rather than what they may DESERVE.
PinkDot sounds like a vital, and useful way to express an opinion, and say/show that gay men and women ARE normal, and deserve as much rights and equality - BUT no more - as anyone else, as much as the rest of the majority.
If 50,000 gay Singaporeans gathered, would society collapse? No. Would social order be undermined? No. Would it be sending a dangerous message to 'undesirable' elements of society? No.
So. Go. Join in. Participate. Be proactive, rather than reactive. Be normal. Be there. Be represented. Be yourself.
And then just carry on being a normal, ordinary citizen, just like you are for the other 100% of the time that you live and work there... right?
It was only last year that it became legal to have an event like this, and then only in Hong Lim Park.
But that only came about because of the stinking government's consession to the SDP's civil disobedience campaign and their insistence that protests - even if pinkdot is not touted as one - ought to be legal anywhere in Singapore.
steveuk, thanks for the idea: I too will be in solidarity wearing the only pink shirt I own.
Wow! This sounds like a dead threat! Hmmm... Catholic, no wonder. Such a reverse advertisement for your religion, honey. :-)
Yes, they already are. And the whole world will be watching them. They can run, they CAN hide, they can even mutute...but they will neve run away from their sins. :-)
I hope they all can do this while sleeping well at night.
people please face facts and don't live in your fantasy world. No "normal people" would ever truly like "abnormal people". And if you voice out you're dead.
Raph, what did the Bible say???
"The Lord despises pride; be assured that the proud will be punished." Proverbs 16:5
"Pride goes before destruction; and haughtiness before a fall." Proverbs 16:18
No 'normal' people will ever like 'abnormal' people??
Is that what the ROC has been teaching you all these years? Gosh, I really, really wonder...
Post #37 Lalakroft ... Actually, I DO know Catholics who are very liberal & support PLUs,
you will be surprised to learn. :)
and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me...
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Martin Niemller
German theologian
In his youth he was an anti-Semite and an admirer of Hitler. As Nazism expanded in Germany, however, he saw Nazism for what it was:
it was not just the Jews Hitler sought to exterminate, it was just about anyone who opposes him.
Niemller spoke out, and for his trouble was incarcerated in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1937 to 1945, and very nearly executed. He wrote this poem while imprisoned.
But looking at the number of people who have confirmed, and those "maybe" coming and those confirmed not coming, I think Singapore's gay community is far from ready to make a stand of any kind but I applaud the move and encourage it.
Until we can have the courage accept ourselves as members of Singapore society and speak out, we will never experience acceptance much less equality.
I know Singaporeans are very pragmatic but if you don't take a stand, no one will do it for you. And you deserve S377A and many more laws that will be implemented against you in the future.
1200 people have signed up to that group! I think that's pretty amazing. People may be shy about openly confirming their attendance, but it doesn't mean they wont turn up on the day, or find some way to support it. However many turn up, it's a historic event, which people who do take part in will remember all their lives.
Considering there were just 100 brave souls at the Pink Picnic, this is looking good.
You're on the way to great changes for the best of the Singaporean society. I can't wait to see the reports about this event.
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