It is a group for everyone, straight and gay, who support the belief that everyone deserves the freedom to love. Pink Dot started out as a grassroots initiative at a town hall meeting in 2008. In 2009, the inaugural Pink Dot event drew a 2,500-strong crowd to Speakers Corner (Hong Lim Park) in Singapore to create a giant human pink dot to show support for the LGBT community. It was, then, the larg
est public gathering ever recorded at the park (a big deal in Singapore!), and the first to champion LGBT interests. Online, the 'Freedom to Love' message reached tens of thousands through social media. By 2012, the event had swelled to 15000 people, and its expected to get even bigger this year, as more and more people stand up for the freedom to love. Check out pinkdot.sg for information on Pink Dot 2013 which will happen on 29 June.
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A little background on serious issues affecting the LGBT community in SIngapore:
The penal code still contains a provision (377A) that criminalizes homosexuality. Yes, it is a crime to be gay in Singapore. The government has said that it will not enforce the law. This however, is empty rhetoric that provides no protections for gay people - as long as the law remains on the books, it can be enforced. This is discrimination against a minority group at its starkest - it is a clear violation of the human rights of gay people. A parliamentary challenge against 377A was mounted in 2007 - it evoked intense and deep-seated hate and animosity towards the LGBT community, particularly from fundamental right-wing Christians who see the supposed 'gay lifestyle' as inherently threatening to their lives. The parliamentary challenge also revealed however that religion aside, there is absolutely no basis or justification for the criminalisation of gay people, not least in a society that professes to be a modern one. In 2012-2013, a constitutional challenge was put forward by a gay couple, that argues against keeping 377A in the penal code on the grounds that it is not constitutionally sound. The case is currently pending appeal in the High Court. While the Pink Dot movement has nothing to do with either the parliamentary or constitutional challenges, what it does show is the growing momentum of support for the LGBT community, and the rising indignation at ongoing state-sanctioned discrimination against them. As a society changes, as it grows, develops, matures, so too must its laws. The more support for the LGBT community, the more pressure is placed on the social mores that cling to bigotry and hate.
