SINGAPORE GOES PINK!

BY IZAD SALEH ALI

The count down is on! With only hours to go before Pink Dot 2011 takes to Singapore’s Speaker's Corner, organisers are fervently making final touches to what is the most highly-anticipated event in the country’s LGBT event calendar.

 

This Saturday, June 18, 2011, Singaporeans will, for the third year running, gather at Hong Lim Park to form a human pink dot in support of the belief that everyone deserves the freedom to love, regardless of sexual orientation.

 

With the country fresh out of a hotly contested General Election, amid the feeling of a new-found confidence among Singaporeans to discuss controversial issues more openly, organisers are expecting a larger turn-out.

 

2,500 people turned out for the inaugural event in 2009. Last year, this number nearly doubled, to 4,000.

 

During the election, people who previously didn't dare to go for rallies and speak up are now more liberal and vocal with their views. People who were scared to be seen previously have hopefully – because of what’s happened at the Elections – been awakened, and are now braver to support us.

 

But we are nonetheless pulling out all the stops to get the message across. Utilising digital and social networking platforms, they seeded videos on YouTube, engaged audiences on Facebook and Twitter, and engaged with other LGBT and LGBT-friendly community organisations in Singapore.

 

Certainly, the lead-up has been positive. Pink Dot’s official Campaign Video, directed by acclaimed local director Boo Junfeng, had tugged the heartstrings of viewers, generating an astounding 200,000 hits in the four short weeks since it was first uploaded to YouTube. People overseas have also caught on to the campaign, and are themselves organising their own local editions of Pink Dot – New York, London, Montreal, even as far as Anchorage, Alaska.

 

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, international giant Google Singapore has also thrown its considerable weight behind the Freedom to Love as a supporter, reflecting its own policies of equality and inclusivity.

 

Indeed, the dot seems set to grow even bigger this year, a testament to not just the growing acceptance and awareness among Singaporeans, but also to the hard work and commitment to this small group of volunteer organisers. It is still early days yet, but it is clear that the seeds of change are already beginning to germinate, and we can expect a more loving, more inclusive, Singapore, in the near future.

 

If you happen to be in Singapore...

WHAT: PINK DOT 2011

WHERE: Hong Lim Park, Singapore

WHEN: Saturday, June 18, 2011

WHAT TO WEAR: Of course, PINK!

TIMINGS: Activities commence 4.30pm, Concert begins at 5pm, Dot is formed at 6pm*

 

For more information:

Visit the pink dot Blog

‘Like’ their Facebook Page

Follow them on Twitter



GAY TIGERS

PHOTOGRAPH: PinkDot Singapore
The world watches as gay rights in South East Asia come under scrutiny this week as 29 LGBTIQ groups from 8 Southeast Asian nations take a stand to stop LGBTs being treated as criminals and second class citizens. 40 brave activists from eight countries, some of which from nations where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by law, have gathered in Jakarta to show that the recognition, promotion and protection of LGBT rights are long overdue. The Indonesian capital hosts the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Civil Society Conference and ASEAN People's Forum this week.

Indonesian and Vietnamese groups Arus Pelangi and iSEE led the meeting, to raise awareness for the challenges faced by LGBT communities in South East Asia. They called upon civil society and governments to protect the rights of sexual minorities in the region. Currently, there are laws in some countries that criminalises sexual orientation and gender identity and have yet to recognise LGBT rights as human rights. Laws and policies also vary from country to country and forward thinking nations of the association are not doing enough to harmonize LGBT rights in the region, by applying pressure on those countries who criminalise it. In addition, LGBTs are not protected by any association-wide based mechanisms or human rights instruments.

In addition, the groups are calling to depathlogise sexual and gender orientation and promote the well-being of all people, to ensure equal and unhindered access to health and social services.

Sounds crazy right? Especially to those of us lucky enough to live in countries where such basic rights have become part of the social fabric. As someone whose heritage links to one of these countries, it upsets me that this is still happening in these supposedly developed 'Tiger' economies.

Our Asian brothers and sisters in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Burma are still being dehumanised. Authorities arrest, detain and persecute individuals because of colonial laws that criminalize their sexual orientation or gender identity. In other ASEAN countries, certain laws are abused with impunity to harass or persecute individuals whose sexuality or gender is deemed unacceptable, immoral, or unnatural: anti-prostitution, anti-trafficking, or anti-pornography laws in Indonesia and the Philippines are applied to conduct illegal raids in gay establishments or to nab transgenders, oftentimes subjecting them to humiliation and extortion. The anti-kidnapping law in the Philippines is likewise used to forcibly break apart lesbian couples living under consensual and legitimate relationships.

Instead of representing the interests of all citizens, many governments and state institutions become instruments of religious and sectarian prejudice. In Surabaya, Indonesia, the police was complicit in an attack by an intolerant religious group against the participants of an international LGBTIQ conference.

A climate of stigma and discrimination prevails in most, if not all, ASEAN countries. From Vietnam to Brunei Darussalam, social stigma persists. Sexual orientations and gender identities outside heterosexuality and patriarchal gender norms are considered as a sickness that can be corrected through rape, reparative camps like in Besut, Malaysia, only one of several camps in the country, and other damaging psycho-social measures.

I'm proud of my kinsmen and women who refuse to be silenced by prejudice and fully support and applaud these brave individuals who are part of the grassroots fight to make the South East Asian spirit of peace, tolerance and understanding apply equally to all its people.