Earlier this month, an Islamic religious teacher, Mr Noor Deros, started a Wear White campaign calling on Muslims to wear white this Saturday to protest against homosexuality. Since then, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore and the Catholic Church have put forward their views on the LGBT issue, with the National Council of Churches of Singapore the latest to chime in yesterday.
related: Pink Dot rally organisers welcome police advisory
What should Singaporeans think about the Pink Dot movement? Support for this movement is growing year by year and one supposes the organisers would be betting on an even larger turn-out this June 28 than last year’s 21,000.
For an annual event which gathers like-minded Singaporeans to pat themselves on the back, there is no contention.
But if one of the hidden agendas of Pink Dot is to one day re-define civil marriage in this country, the organisers and their poncey supporters have insurmountable odds weighed against them. It is a dream which the majority of passive heterosexual Singaporeans are not willing to grant them. Myself included.
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Controversy ahead of LGBT rights event in Singapore
A wave of controversy has been seen in Singapore ahead of an upcoming rights movement in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.
The police issued an advisory on Thursday for the annual Pink Dot gathering, which is set to take place at the Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park in downtown Singapore. It said that event organizers are responsible for ensuring that the activities do not contravene the regulations governing the use of Speakers' Corner or the law and reminded those attending the event to "keep the peace."
"Police has issued a reminder that the Speakers' Corner is a designated outdoor area for Singapore citizens to use for any assembly or public speech without the need for a police permit, so long as the topics do not relate to race or religion," it said.
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Showdown in Singapore Over Gay-Rights Rally
The term "Pink Dot" is a play on Singapore's nickname - "The Little Red Dot" on the world map
A showdown between Singapore's religious conservatives and a growing gay-rights movement is shaping up ahead of a weekend rally celebrating sexual diversity in the city-state.
The annual Pink Dot gathering will be held on Saturday at a downtown park - the only place where demonstrations are permitted - with organisers aiming to top last year's record turnout of more than 20,000 people.
The carnival-like rally draws a diverse array of straight and gay participants decked out in bright pink attire including hats and even facial hair dyed in the colour organisers picked to represent the freedom to love.
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Pink Dot rally organisers open to ‘constructive discussion’
Pink Dot 2013. TODAY file photo
The organisers behind the annual Pink Dot gathering have responded to the wave of controversy that has erupted in the wake of an online campaign launched by an Islamic religious teacher against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Pink Dot organising committee said they were saddened that “certain quarters have reacted negatively to our efforts at creating a more loving and embracing society”.
“We call on all parties to exercise restraint and engage each other in dialogue...Pink Dot also welcomes the opportunity to meet with any and all parties who wish to engage with us in thoughtful and constructive discussion,” the spokesperson said.
It might sound odd to you, to speak of contest when we should really be trying to achieve harmony. But I feel it is an important consideration, because without it, we will never understand the concerns that underpin the diverse groups involved in this issue. This lack of understanding also renders any conversation meaningless, because the terms of the conversation will always be at odds with each group, leading to adversarial positions that are based on absolute terms.
Physical space - At the very base of the argument, the LGBT issue is about physical space. This is most visible in the Pink Dot event at Hong Lim Park, where the LGBT community and its supporters make a very visible mark in Singapore.
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LGBTs in Singapore
"Church must work with like-minded groups to oppose Pink Dot: Pastor Kong of the Faith Community Baptist Church - TODAY 24 June 2014
Various faith groups, such as the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore and the Catholic Church, have expressed their positions on the LGBT movement in recent days.
Weighing in on the issue, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, Mr Yaacob Ibrahim, had said those who want to express support for a cause or lifestyle choice should express it in a way that does not divide the community. He added that differences in society had always existed, but Singaporeans must not forget “to keep the social fabric as tight as possible”."
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Forestalling a war of Pink and White
Lawrence Khong has taken another step into the face of the LGBTQ community to ask churches to ally with muslims and wear white in opposition to something called the “gay lifestyle”, a nebulous term for the support and normalisation of LGBTQ rights in our society. I’m not sure if, had this been several hundred years ago, Pastor Khong would have picked homosexual allies to go sack the Muslim-held cities of the holy lands. It seems a queer choice of bedfellows (pardon my pun).
As a conservative Christian, I hold to the belief that God has clearly revealed that homosexuality is not His design and, along with the sins that I and the rest of mankind commit, attracts the penalty of death. We are all condemned.
But this earthly home, Singapore, consists of more than the Church. We are a diverse society, put here, together, now, by God for His glory. Should anyone insist that God approves of homosexuality, they will be commenting within the Christian context and sphere, and on that basis I will refute the argument as robustly as I am able.
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LGBT movement poses challenge for Singapore
Once a year a small park near Singapore's central business district turns into a glowing pink blob, with the next event set for Saturday
In the closest thing Singapore has to a gay pride parade - and in the only place where public assemblies can take place without a permit - thousands dress in pink in support of Pink Dot's message: "freedom to love."
Last year, over 20,000 people filled Hong Lim Park, some 10 times the number who attended the inaugural event in 2009. "The Pink Dot Rally is designed to be a platform for open-minded Singaporeans to support and stand with their son, daughter, brother, sister, colleague, friend or just fellow Singaporean who just happen to be LGBT," said event spokesman Paerin Choa.
"As our Pink Dot grows bigger each year, it will represent the growing acceptance of LGBT Singaporeans in Singapore."
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A call for compassion, dialogue and mutual understanding on LGBTQ issues
A number of organisations and individuals have come together to back a statement that called for “compassion, dialogue and mutual understanding on LGBTQ (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning) issues”.
The statement, released on 22 June, currently has 11 organisations and 248 individuals backing it. It was written in response to the Wear White campaign that was organised by members of the Muslim community to protest the celebration of Pink Dot.
Pink Dot, an event organised by the LGBT community in support of the “freedom to love”, will be held this Saturday at Hong Lim Park.
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LGBTs are not opposed to concept of families
I agree that “Expressions of pro-family support are not divisive” (June 25). At the same time, every person is part of a family, including those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Every person in that community is a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister or an uncle or an aunt to another person, and is an integral part of his or her family and our society.
There is anecdotal evidence from many countries around the world that homosexual couples are more than able to raise children and give them a good upbringing. It is evident that LGBTs are not opposed to the concept of families. Indeed, many LGBTs seek to be accepted as part of their families.
Beyond this, let us not forget that many other non-traditional family configurations exist, such as couples who choose not to have children, interracial marriages and couples who adopt children of another ethnicity. The traditional family unit will inevitably evolve, but what remains unchanged are family values, among which, I assume, include unconditional love for family members.
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Lets Wear Pink?
The religious bodies in Singapore are already going into damage control in relation to their comments to the PinkDotSG movement, and to some people calling for others to wear white to counter the wear pink movement. Maybe they're scared a fight would break out or something
In regards to that, I would sincerely, honestly want to wear pink as well and go to the event, as a Christian, to say sorry for what some of us may have been doing. Something like what this group of Christians did during a gay pride rally in the US:
Reason being that we are taught to love, not judge. We can argue all day about whether homosexuality is wrong or right or whether God loves homosexuals but by the end of the day, who are we to judge? Aren't we all sinners as well?
Our worst enemies are ourselves
Pink Dot is an annual event in support of an inclusive society, sexual diversity, and the freedom to love. It has been ongoing since 2009, and has been getting bigger every year, growing from 1,000 in its first year, to 21,000 attendees at Pink Dot 2013. It is attended by Singaporeans and non-locals alike, regardless of sexual orientation, religion, race, sex, age, etc. It’s not like a pride parade; there are no floats, no drag queens strutting down the streets, no half-naked or leather-clad haado-gay stereotypes getting in your face on the local cameras, and most certainly, no George Takei as Grand Marshall (…darnit). It is just simply a bunch of people wearing pink, getting together with friends, partners and/or family, and enjoying a day where they can find mutual support. In a country where male-with-male sexual activity is still criminalised, Pink Dot is a wrinkle in the petroleum-derivative fabric of the nation.
Of course, not everyone is happy about that. Lawrence Khong of Faith Community Baptist Church, through TOUCH Community Services, attempted to get a permit to hold an event on the same date as this year’s Pink Dot, ostensibly as a celebration of the ‘family’. The permit was roundly rejected, though the Ministry of Social and Family Development noted that alternative sites had been proposed, only to be rejected by the organisers as being ‘inaccessible’, as they were in the heartlands. Given that most families are located in the heartlands and not in the vicinity of the Padang, and therefore holding it in the heartlands is far more logical in terms of accessibility, people figured that it was a matter of countering, as it were, the visibility of Pink Dot. Whatever it was, the furore died down after a while.
And then a Muslim religious teacher decided that Pink Dot was meant as a direct affront to Islam’s holiest month, being on the same day as the first day of Ramadhan, and launched his own campaign to ‘defend traditional family values’ and ‘return to fitrah’ with his Wear White campaign, while holding a little girl who, in all likelihood, likes pink, because pink is a girl’s natural colour (someone should really tell him that, given that one of the people on his video said that it is sunnah to speak well, he might want to get his website proofread, pronto. ‘Its’ and ‘It’s’??). Of course, Lawrence Khong jumped on the bandwagon, and said that Christians should support them, all the while ignoring the fact that the Bible states (not me hor, not I say one) that they are headed to hell, along with the gays, and maybe he should also be handing out Chick Tracts.
More than just white vs. pink
Singapore’s LGBT movement has not sought to trample upon the rights of the religious community to worship in peace; they ask only to be recognised as fellow human beings and to enjoy the same rights as everybody else. Should the LGBT community succeed in attaining equality, it would not take away from the religious their right to practise their beliefs as they please.
Conversely, religious organisations that adopt homophobic ideologies seek to tamp down on the LGBT community, relegating them to the status of second-class citizens—or sub-humans—for the crime of having different sexual preferences. This so-called deviancy harms no one, nor does it reduce the rights and opportunities enjoyed by religious folk.
Religious organisations that practise the politics of exclusion pit themselves as the defenders of morality against the embodiment of perversion. Yet there is no zero-sum game, no winner-take-all scenario, no struggle between good and evil. There is no conflict between the religious and the non-heteronormative but that in the delusions of ideologues.
Wear White + Red Dot = Pink Dot
– TOC: Call for compassion, dialogue & mutual understanding on LGBTQ issues
– The Independent, SG: More than just white vs. pink
– Singapura Pundit: Hard Truths To Keep The Pink And White Thinking
– Lukeyishandsome: Twenty Random Thoughts #260614: Lets Wear Pink?
– Haus of yuene: Our worst enemies are ourselves
– Dusty corner: Pastor Lawrence Khong : Ustaz Noor Deros : The Gay Agenda
– Anyhow Hantam: Vincent Wijeysingha is a Liar
– Gwee Li Sui: Who will speak the healing words?
– Tania De Rozario: Forum Letter :: When Magic is Tragic
– TOC: Red, white, pink – a contest of space
– Signs of Struggle: Forestalling a war of Pink and White
– Blogging for Myself: L. Khong, LGBT aping American Ways
– Shiroi Ryuu @ dusty corner: You Are Not God, Don’t Judge
– Just Speaking My Mind: Vincent Wijeysingha and the Catholic Church
– Lu Keehong Singapore: LGBTs in Singapore
– Defunct Creakings of a Cog: Plausible Civic Reasons for Opposition to PinkDot
– New Nation: Association of Apathetic Sporean issues statement: ‘We don’t care’
– Yahoo!: Facing LGBT opposition frm religious right, shld Pink Dot fight for more?
– Think For Me, Spore: Letter from a friend (Catholic Church hypocrites)
– Homosexuality&science: PinkDot o Wearwhite? Choice between rhetoric o truth
– I on Sg: Hypocrisy of “Human Rights” MARUAH on Religion in Public Discourse
– Bertha Harian: Between pink and white
– Singapore 2B: A Rosy Hue (settles all around)
– Wise Mental King: The Red, the White and The Pink
– Chemical Generation Spore: 377A: The Conservatives March On
– I on Singapore: Polarisation in LGBT Debate: Why should we be surprised?
– Hello summer: Being Muslim & Gay
– Lukeyishandsome: Us VS Them
– 5 Stars & a Moon: Attitudes towards Same-Sex Relation in Sg – Bizarre Trend
– Vincent Wijeysingha: Policing Moral Universe: What Role For Catholic Church
– TOC: Catholic Church takes harder stance on LGBT “lifestyle”
– The Smart Local: Pink Dot 2014 – On 28th June, We Wear Pink
– Just Speaking My Mind: Is Pink Dot Event Sowing Discord in Singapore?
– Literally Kidding: Alternative Sexualities: Pinch of tolerance & less bigotry please
– Everything Oso Complain: Wear white campaign a protest against homosexuality
– Singapore Notes: Men And Women In White
– The New Era: No objectionable material in song abt acceptance in friendship
– New Nation: NDP 2014 remove all LGBT elements from performance celebration
– Rilek1Corner: Defending WearWhite movement against so-called liberal “Muslims”
– Blogging for Myself: LGBT: Now the Muslims Push Back
– The Anglo-Sinkie scribbles: Pink dot 2014
– Rilek1Corner: Alfian Sa’at Breaks Silence on PinkDot SG & WearWhite
– Salt * Wet * Fish: Redux: Chan Chun Sing’s gay recruitment
A Faith Community Baptist Church service celebrating family drew about 6,000 worshippers, mostly wearing white, on June 29, 2014. Photo: Alvin Chong
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