12/06/2021

Pink Dot 2021

pinkdot 13 Live

Pink Dot 13
Pink Dot 2021 (Pink Dot 13) virtual light up

Pink Dot 2021, held on Saturday, 12 June 2021, was officially called Pink Dot 13 because it was the thirteenth iteration of the annual event. For the second year running, the proceedings were forced to be held completely online because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and a resurgence in the incidence of local community infections with newer viral variants of concern. This spurred the Government to institute a so-called "Phase 2 (Heightened Alert)" partial lockdown.

"As part of the 2021 PinkFest season in Singapore, "Heart Truths" is an online conversation series exploring this question: “What does it mean for an LGBTQ+ Christian to lead an abundant life?” You will hear testimonies of the trials and triumphs faced by the queer Christian community. Hosted by the Free Community Church and being an inclusive church, we have also invited supportive allies in relevant discussion.

Come and be inspired by stories of hope and resilience on how others have struggled and flourished. Featuring both gay and straight folk who’ve got extensive experience engaging other Christians with LGBTQ+ issues, this will be an interesting discussion for all. More than just using Scripture to hammer one another, we will learn about what the panelists did and said in their effort to dialogue with friends and family who disagreed with their queer affirming stance.


PINK DOT 13: OVER 15,000 PINK DOTS LIGHT UP ACROSS SINGAPORE

Pink Dot 13 kicks off Pride month with a show of hope, solidarity and love for all LGBTQ Singaporeans and their allies. Organisers have soldiered on, despite the existing challenges of a worldwide pandemic and the implementation of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) measures, to produce a livestream and the formation of the movement’s second digital pink dot.

Hosted by actress Pam Oei and Harris Zaidi, the livestream featured a brand new chat show segment where guests discussed issues important to the LGBTQ community. Pageant queen and LGBTQ activist, Andrea Razali shared her journey as  a transgender woman in Singapore, winning Miss International Queen Singapore, and the importance of good allyship. Lawyer Remy Choo helped audiences understand the importance of the constitutional challenges to repeal Section 377A as well as his personal reasons for taking up this mantle.

Brand new animations with a focus on LGBTQ families made their debut on the livestream, and collaborations with Rough Cuts Productions and Our Grandfather Story, showcased conversations between LGBTQ activists across different generations and a father’s acceptance and love for his daughter, respectively. Between the different segments, audiences were treated to the musical stylings of Joshua Simon, Qyo, aeriqah & RENE, Charlie Lim, NeoKELELims, and The Apex Project. Singapore’s Top LGBTQ Ally, Preetipls, also entertained with a lighthearted take on the ABCs of activism in Singapore via a special Pink Dot episode of Nobody Asked.


Pink Dot SG 2021
pinkdot 13 - supporting the freedom to Love

The 13th Pink Dot in 2021 was held on 12 June, again as a livestream due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. The event was hosted by Pam Oei and Harris Zaidi. Interviewees included pageant queen and LGBT activist Andrea Razali, and lawyer Remy Choo, one of the lawyers involved in the legal challenges to strike down Section 377A. Performers and artistes included Joshua Simon, Charlie Lim, and Neo Swee Lin and Lim Kay Siu as the duo NeoKELELims. Like the previous year, members of the public could contribute with messages of support to a virtual light display that was unveiled at the end of the event.

Pink Dot SG
Aerial photograph of the inaugural Pink Dot event held on Saturday, 16 May 2009 at Hong Lim Park.

Pink Dot SG, (more commonly referred to simply as Pink Dot) was held on Saturday, 16 May 2009.

It was Singapore's historic, first open air LGBT-supportive event. It established a record for the greatest number of participants to turn up for any congregation at Speakers' Corner, Hong Lim Park since the latter's inception.

The landmark gathering was accorded extensive coverage in the international and local media. In the years to come, similar eponymous events based on the original concept, values and messaging of Pink Dot would be held in cities all around the world.


Pink Dot SG
The LGBT community converging at Hong Lim Park in Singapore for Pink Dot SG in 2014

Pink Dot SG, known exonymously as Pink Dot, is an event that has occurred annually since 2009 in support of the LGBT community in Singapore. Attendees of Pink Dot events gather to form a "pink dot" to show support for inclusiveness, diversity and the freedom to love in the country. Pink Dot events typically include concert performances and booths sponsored by organizations that support the LGBT community and cause in addition to the event's name-brand formation.

The success of Pink Dot in Singapore has inspired similar events in several other countries, leading to the event to become known as Pink Dot SG — SG being an initialism for Singapore. It has been held each year in Singapore from 2009 to 2019 at the Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park on a Saturday in the months of May, June or July. The 2020 and 2021 editions were held as online livestreams, in view of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 edition was held in-person once again in June.

In September 2008, the rules governing activities conducted at Singapore's Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park were relaxed, allowing demonstrations organised by Singaporeans to be held at the park, providing that all participants are either citizens or permanent residents. This allowed the first Pink Dot SG event to take place at the Speakers' Corner on 16 May 2009. A total of nine Pink Dot events have been held in Singapore, occurring annually on Saturdays in May, June or July. Many organisations around the world modeled LGBT events after the Pink Dot concept, often borrowing the "Pink Dot" prefix. For distinction, the Singapore events became known as Pink Dot SG. The design of the Pink Dot SG mascot "Pinkie", a personification of the pink dot, was provided by graphic designer Soh Ee Shaun.

Pink Dot SG
Straits Times article dated 25 September 2008

Pink Dot SG is a non-profit movement started by a group of disparate individuals. Dr Roy Tan, a medical practitioner with a passionate interest in archiving the history of Singapore's LGBT community, wanted to take advantage of the liberalisation, with effect from 1 September 2008, of rules governing activities that could be conducted at Speakers’ Corner, Hong Lim Park. He initially registered with the National Parks Board to stage a traditional pride parade on Saturday, 15 November 2008. The LGBT community's immediate response to the idea of a pride parade held in Singapore was less than encouraging. Tan’s promotion of the event on SiGNeL, a local LGBT mailing list, largely drew a blank. Slightly frustrated, he resolved to conduct a one-man pride parade with himself as the only person marching if it boiled down to that as he was determined to set a precedent that would facilitate the organisation of such events in the future. There was a real fear amongst closeted individuals that participating in a parade would be indirectly outing themselves to the world, especially with the intense media coverage that such a groundbreaking development in the conservative republic was expected to attract. Moreover, a pride parade was traditionally a form of protest and Singaporeans had become conditioned to being averse to protest marches after decades of authoritarian rule. As such, other community activists were concerned that the event might not gain the larger mainstream public acceptance that was its aim. Pink Dot SG evolved in the ensuing months out of brainstorming discussions by key stakeholders, rustled up by Tan with the help of his friend Dominic Chua.

The novel concept of forming a giant pink dot itself, never before employed in any LGBT-supportive event in the world, was the brainchild of Pink Dot organising committee member and Fridae's Chinese section editor Choo Lip Sin. However, it must be mentioned that the first activist-inspired public gathering of people dressed in pink was organised by Miak Siew and took place 1 year earlier, in 2007, during the Pink Picnic held at the Botanic Gardens during the third year of IndigNation, Singapore's LGBT pride month. Also, Bian Tan was the first person to suggest on SiGNeL that a gathering of people togged out in pink would have more broad-based appeal than a gay pride parade. The rationale was that a mixed crowd of both straight and LGBT participants dressed the same way to support a cause would circumvent the problem of outing oneself as it would mean that just because one was seen at the event, this would not necessarily signify that one was gay. The design of the Pink Dot mascot, affectionately named "Pinkie", was later provided pro bono by straight graphic designer Soh Ee Shaun. Soh's help was solicited by Dominic Chua, a personal friend of his. The crafting of the PR-friendly slogan "Support the Freedom to Love", which was a concerted attempt to move away from using the word "rights" and which later gained widespread currency both locally and internationally, was the work of Ash Lim. Dr Stuart Koe, CEO of Fridae.com, generously agreed to making his immensely popular and socially responsible LGBT portal Pink Dot's first corporate sponsor. Koe provided website information technology, creative, marketing and logistics support, the use of the Fridae office for meetings, and at least $2,000 to get the inaugural event off the ground.

Prior to September 2008, Pink Dot would have been an illegal event, with the police regarding it as a form of demonstration in violation of the rules governing the use of the Speakers' Corner. For 8 years since its inception in 2000, users of Speakers' Corner were required to register themselves at the police post and were prohibited from employing any audio amplification equipment or conducting themselves in a manner which may be deemed a public protest or demonstration. The status quo changed on 1 September 2008 when the Government decided to relax the rules to allow for protests, demonstrations and self-powered sound systems, all made permissible by just a simple online registration with the National Parks Board (NParks). However, this newfound right was secured through years of effort by activists to open up political space and to persuade Singaporeans to accept the idea of peaceful protests. It took arrests, fines and prison sentences suffered by activists, in particular Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) leader Dr Chee Soon Juan. Chee made a decision in 1999 to risk imprisonment by embarking on a long-drawn campaign of civil disobedience to bring the government to bear for its refusal to honour its citizens' rights to free speech and assembly.


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