Record Number Turn Out For Gay Rights Rally in Singapore

[Lite Beer]

Record Number Turn Out For Gay Rights Rally in Singapore
By Ng Yi Shu

By Khaosod Eng.

SINGAPORE — More than 26,000 people dressed in pink gathered in the centre of Singapore on Saturday for the city's annual Pink Dot march in support of LGBT rights, despite opposition from religious groups.

The turnout for the six-year-old event, which aims to help change attitudes towards the gay community in the island city-state, set a new attendance record and was nearly 10 times higher than the inaugural rally in 2009.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights are a contentious issue in multiethnic Singapore, where a law in the Penal Code - known as S377A - criminalizes sex between men.

Parliament has so far refused to repeal S377A, but the law is not proactively enforced. A challenge on the law's constitutionality is pending in an appeals court.

Conservative religious groups oppose the any move to repeal S377A and held a counter-rally on Saturday, with members dressed in white.

Earlier this month, an Islamic religious teacher Noor Deros started the Wear White campaign, exhorting Muslims to wear the colour to protest homosexuality.

Deros was supported by Lawrence Khong, the pastor of the Faith Community Baptist Church, a megachurch in Singapore, who called for the church and like-minded groups to oppose the movement before it was "too late."

Pink Dot organizer Paerin Choa said in a statement he was "confident" that Singapore was "large enough for us all to co-exist peacefully, respectfully and with dignity."

"We are, at the end of the day, one big national family, and it is especially humbling this year, to see the sheer support we have received from Singaporeans from all walks of life," he said.

Source: http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1404022186

-- Khaosod English 2014-06-29

[terryp]

no thanks...do what you do but dont scream it in my face....what next big hetro street partys to celebrate being one of the few left who are straight?

[Jingthing]

no thanks...do what you do but dont scream it in my face....what next big hetro street partys to celebrate being one of the few left who are straight?

Heterosexuals control every country of the world. You don't need a special party, do you? The reality is if/when straights have such parties, they are structured as protests against the gay civil rights movement (as we recently saw in Uganda). When gays have such parties, they have nothing to do with protesting the full civil rights that heterosexuals ALREADY enjoy.

BTW, the GLBT people in Singapore are living under quite oppressive anti-gay laws. They are brave to come out so visibly to stand up for their right to be equal citizens under the laws of their lovely little country. Kudos to them!

Edited June 29, 2014 by Jingthing

[Globeman]

no thanks...do what you do but dont scream it in my face....what next big hetro street partys to celebrate being one of the few left who are straight?

Wow, the cliched conservatism on this board never fails to amaze me. Sometimes I think I've been transported back to the 1950s and the fine puffed values espoused back in those good old days.

Who is screaming it in your face? It's a street party. And yes it is their way of saying, "We're here, deal with it" ... in a country where you can go to jail for practicing homosexuality - never mind all the other benefits you get cut out of. That is why they make noise and get all up in your face about it. Because if they stayed in the closet (out of your face), they'd continue getting shat on.

Are you being facetious about "The few left who are straight"? Really? Come on, man. It's not really any comparison is it now? Heteros are at least 90% of the population, and nobody is getting imprisoned or denied jobs or rights for being straight. And the number of gays hasn't actually increased - just their visibility. It must be nice not to be so scared to admit publicly what you are.

Jeez, next thing women will be demanding the vote and - equal pay for equal work. And black people will start demanding equal rights, putting their fists in the air and screaming in the faces of decent law abiding white heterosexual male people. Why can't people just be happy with having less than I do?

[sustento]

no thanks...do what you do but dont scream it in my face....what next big hetro street partys to celebrate being one of the few left who are straight?

Nobody actually forced you to attend did they? If you want a straight party go for it. No-on's stopping you. You have to organise it and pay for it yourself though.

[Jingthing]

It's interesting that Gay Rights / Gay Pride events have never become a big thing in Thailand. No, I'm not saying they should be. That's up to the Thais. But they are a thing in so many countries in the world, including in Asia. What is the reason? It's certainly not that things are perfect for sexual minorities in Thailand. Countries with great equality still have big parties.

[onthemoon]

It's interesting that Gay Rights / Gay Pride events have never become a big thing in Thailand. No, I'm not saying they should be. That's up to the Thais. But they are a thing in so many countries in the world, including in Asia. What is the reason? It's certainly not that things are perfect for sexual minorities in Thailand. Countries with great equality still have big parties.

Maybe 20 years ago, I came back from the CSD in NY and showed the pictures to my gay friends in Thailand. Fancy drag queens, guys with almost no clothes, they loved it. And there was also this pic of guys on bicycles: A gay cycling group. So my Thai friends asked what the point was of this group being a part of a gay parade; if you like cycling, why would you only allow your gay friends to join and exclude your straight friends?

Back to the CSD parade itself. I was standing next to a US-American straight couple. She asked: Why are they allowed to show their homosexuality in public? He answered: It is an agreement with the city: Once a year they are allowed to show it, and in return, they will stay in their holes for the rest of the year.

I think this clarifies it: There is no real need for gay parades in Thailand (the one I saw in Phuket was 100% commercial), but there is/was a need in the western world.

And I was in a government office only last week and was served by an openly gay guy - how probable is that in the US, for example?

[onthemoon]

no thanks...do what you do but dont scream it in my face....what next big hetro street partys to celebrate being one of the few left who are straight?

Please stop screaming hetero in my face. I would like you to be one of the few left, but unfortunately there are 90 to 95 percent of you.

My suggestion to you: Get lost.

[Jingthing]

It's interesting that Gay Rights / Gay Pride events have never become a big thing in Thailand. No, I'm not saying they should be. That's up to the Thais. But they are a thing in so many countries in the world, including in Asia. What is the reason? It's certainly not that things are perfect for sexual minorities in Thailand. Countries with great equality still have big parties.

Maybe 20 years ago, I came back from the CSD in NY and showed the pictures to my gay friends in Thailand. Fancy drag queens, guys with almost no clothes, they loved it. And there was also this pic of guys on bicycles: A gay cycling group. So my Thai friends asked what the point was of this group being a part of a gay parade; if you like cycling, why would you only allow your gay friends to join and exclude your straight friends?

Back to the CSD parade itself. I was standing next to a US-American straight couple. She asked: Why are they allowed to show their homosexuality in public? He answered: It is an agreement with the city: Once a year they are allowed to show it, and in return, they will stay in their holes for the rest of the year.

I think this clarifies it: There is no real need for gay parades in Thailand (the one I saw in Phuket was 100% commercial), but there is/was a need in the western world.

And I was in a government office only last week and was served by an openly gay guy - how probable is that in the US, for example?

Your information of the situation for gay people in the USA is extremely dated. I mean EXTREMELY.

I also disagree with you that it is so simple as "needing" parades or not "needing" them. That can be a factor of course, but the only factor, certainly not, and again different countries, different histories, different cultures, including their GLBT culture.

Come on now ... Amsterdam ... Hotbed of Homophobia

If the explanation of why Thailand hasn't developed a Gay Pride event culture is only they don't need it, sorry, not buying. Too pat.

Edited July 1, 2014 by Jingthing

[Scott]

I do believe this topic is about Singapore.

[sustento]

I do miss Bugis Street...