Singapore’s Pink Dot celebration has drawn a record 26,000 people. Now in it’s sixth year the event has grown from humble beginnings in 2009 when 2,500 people attended the first event.
Held in Singapore’s official protest spot ‘Speaker’s Corner’ the event now takes over all of Hong Lim Park and surrounding areas. The 2014 event had the theme ‘Freedom to Love’ and was supported by a wide range of celebrities.
‘Pink Dot’ draws attention to LGBTIQ rights in the island nation by shinning pink lights simultaneously. The first short video of the 2014 event has been posted.
While the celebration has continually drawn increasing support in the country where homosexuality is still illegal, it has also begun to draw increasing criticism from conservative groups.
Pastor Lawrence Khong of the anti-gay Faith Baptist Community Church threw his support behind a counter protest led by a Muslim teacher. Religious teacher Ustaz Noor Deros launched the ‘wear white’ campaign to protest against homosexuality and called on Muslims to attend prayer on the eve of Ramadan instead.
Pastor Khong said the counter protest was a vocal and visual stand for morality and family values. Pastor Khong said his church group would join Muslim groups to champion purity for the good of the nation.
The Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association issued a statement saying that it did not support the pervasiveness of LGBT lifestyles but called on Muslims not to adopt a confrontational approach with people who identified as LGBT or to obstruct events such as Pink Dot. The Council called on people to; “demonstrate love and concern for our brothers and sisters who identify with the LGBT cause by reaching out and offering continuous moral guidance.”
Singapore’s National Council of Churches said Christians should treat people who are LGBT with grace and restraint, while acknowledging that it was still opposed to same sex relationships.
