PinkDot | Facebook
LGBTI people in Singapore struck up conversations with strangers
The organizers of this year’s Pink Dot festival in Singapore are gearing up for this year’s event – due to take place 1 July in Hong Lim Park.
However, in recent weeks they have faced increasing challenges.
The Government recently altered the local Public Orders Act to dictate that only Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents will be permitted to assemble at the Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park. In effect, this means that foreigners are barred from attending the LGBTI-themed festival.
How this will affect the festival remains to be seen, but the team are pressing ahead with activities.
A video that they posted to Facebook this afternoon is already going viral.
In it, LGBTI Singaporeans engage in conversation with strangers and ask them about LGBTI rights. They then reveal that they are LGBTI themselves.
Some react with curiosity and politeness. One woman says that it’s against religion. One man says he doesn’t believe gay people can truly be happy in their relationships while Singapore society remains closed-minded.
In a statement, Pink Dot SG (a sister event to Pink Dot Hong Kong), say, ‘With the state of the world today, it’s more important than ever to not live in our “bubble”, but to reach out to those who are not like us, in the hope of reaching a better understanding.
‘For we can stand together as one united people, or we can let our differences divide us. The choice, for us, has always been clear.’
Gay people continue to face legal restrictions in Singapore. Same-sex sexual activity remains illegal between men, and LGBTI people have no anti-discrimination protections.
