History
In September 2008, the rules governing activities conducted at Singapore'sEvents
Each event from 2009 to 2019 took place on a Saturday at Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park with the exception of the 2020 edition where it was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Pink Dot SG 2009
Pink Dot SG 2009 was held on 16 May, launched with a campaign video titled "RED + WHITE = PINK". It was Singapore's first public, open-air, pro-LGBT event and established the record at the time for the greatest turnout for a gathering atPink Dot SG 2010
Pink Dot SG 2010 was held on 15 May, with the theme: "Focusing on Our Families". There was a turnout of 4,000 participants and the event received local media coverage by Channel News Asia and ''The Sunday Times''. The event was also reported internationally by thePink Dot SG 2011
Pink Dot SG 2011 was held on 18 June with more than 10,000 participants. The event featured the theme song "Pink Dot SG 2012
Pink Dot SG 2012 was held on 30 June and had the campaign theme "Someday" and the theme song " True Colors". At this event, 15,000 participants formed a glowing pink dot with mobile phones, torches and flashlights. The event added Barclays as an official corporate supporter, alongside Google. Celebrity ambassadors were former actressPink Dot SG 2013
Pink Dot 2013 was held the evening of 29 June. The event marked its fifth year under a campaign of "Home", the title of a local National Day song which doubled as the event's theme song. The campaign featured a video, directed by local filmmaker Boo Junfeng, depicting three individual true-life experiences. Like the previous year, the event included the formation of the Pink Dot with pink lights. Pink Dot organisers claimed a record turnout of 21,000, which would make it the largest civil society gathering in the country. To accommodate the large number of participants, a second "satellite" focal point was created to channel traffic away from the busiest areas. Prior to the formation of the Pink Dot, participants were treated to a range of activities by more than 20 community groups and partners. Pink Dot SG 2013's list of corporate contributors grew to include global financial firmPink Dot SG 2014
Pink Dot SG 2014 was held the evening of 28 June with a turnout of 26,000. The event's theme, "For Family, For Friends, For Love", highlighted the LGBT community's contributions to society, and its theme song was " We Are Family". In addition to the traditional Pink Dot formation with torches, 2014's event included a blue heart formation within the Pink Dot. Pink Dot SG 2014 also featured a "Community Voices" segment, in which local LGBT individuals and straight allies were invited to speak and share their stories. Ambassadors of the event included Broadway performer Sebastian Tan, actor Brendon Fernandez and Nominated Member of ParliamentPink Dot SG 2015
Pink Dot SG 2015 was held the evening of 13 June. The date was chosen to prevent a clash with the Islamic month of Ramadan. The event ran under the campaign title "Where Love Lives" and included a campaign video directed by local filmmaker Boo Junfeng. The event coincided with the launch of a pioneering LGBT support network for local universities. The celebrity ambassadors for Pink Dot SG 2015 included local actorPink Dot SG 2016
Pink Dot SG 2016 was held on 4 June at 3 pm. Organisers did not provide an estimate of crowd size, but said the number of participants exceeded the capacity of the park. The event's ambassadors were TV host Anita Kapoor, local hip-hop artistPink Dot SG 2017
Pink Dot SG 2017 was held on 1 July. Ambassadors included singerPink Dot SG 2018
Pink Dot SG 2018 (aka Pink Dot 10) was held on 21 July, celebrating its tenth edition with the message We Are Ready. Performers for the event included local singers Tabitha Nauser and Sezairi Sezali. As part of the commemoration of this milestone, the first edition of Pink Fest was organised with several events across the few weekends leading up to Pink Dot.Pink Dot SG 2019
In 2019, during the 11th Pink Dot, Lee Hsien Yang, the brother of the Prime Minister of SingaporePink Dot SG 2020
The 12th Pink Dot in 2020, supposed to be held on 27 June, was cancelled in view of thePink Dot SG 2021
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 includedPink Dot SG 2022
The 14th Pink Dot in 2022 was initially planned to be held over two days on 18 and 19 June, but the organisers ultimately decided to host it as a single day on just 18 June, marking its return as a physical event since the start of the globalInternational events
Many LGBT organisations and individuals around the world were inspired by the event in Singapore to organise their own Pink Dot events. Three were held on the same day as Pink Dot SG 2011, and many others followed the success of this event. Pink Dot events have been organised in places such as Hong Kong, Montreal, Toronto, New York, Okinawa, Utah, Anchorage, London, Penang and Taiwan. Common to all events was the gathering of participants in a Pink Dot formation.Pink Dot Anchorage
As an Alaska PrideFest event, Pink Dot Anchorage organised a gathering on 18 June 2011 at the Anchorage Town Square. Approximately 100 participants attended and created a heart-shaped formation.Pink Dot Hong Kong
2011
On 24 June 2011, Hong Kong's Pink Alliance organised a gathering at Psychic Jack Lounge in Central Hong Kong.2014
Inspired by Pink Dot Singapore, Pink Dot HK 2014 was held on 15 June in2015
Pink Dot HK 2015 was held on 20 September 2015, once again at Tamar Park in front of the Central Government Complex. Notable attendees included actorPink Dot London
On 18 June 2011, Singaporeans in London organised a picnic atPink Dot Montreal
Pink Dot events were held atPink Dot New York
Pink Dot picnics were held on 7 June 2011, 6 October 2012 and 22 June 2013 inPink Dot Okinawa
2013
Pink Dot Okinawa was inspired by Singapore's Pink Dot. Pink Dot OK 2013 was the island's first LGBT event and was held on 14 July with a turnout of 800 people. The event was held in a park in2014, 2015 and 2016
Pink Dot OK 2014 was held on 20 June in Naha city with an estimated turnout of 12,000. Star Trek actorPink Dot Penang
Pink Dot Penang was launched in 2011 inPink Dot Toronto
On 21 May 2016, ACAS (Asian Community AIDS Services) and the Chinese Canadian National Council's Toronto Chapter organised Pink Dot TO inPink Dot Kaohsiung
2011
A Pink Dot gathering was organised by the Taiwan Adolescent Association on Sexualities on 18 June 2011 in2015
Pink Dot TW 2015 was held on 16, 17 and 30 May at Kaohsiung Aozihdi Park, National Cheng Kung University, and HuaShan Grand Green, respectively. Originally planned to be held on 20 May, the HuaShan event was postponed due to bad weather. The event's slogan was "Let's get closer, let the picnic be pinker", with a campaign video of the same title.Pink Dot Utah
Pink Dot Utah is a campaign inspired by the Singapore event with the theme "Support, Love, Courage". It aimed to engender an appreciation of Utah's diversity, including diversity of race, language, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity or gender expression. The campaign encouraged individuals in the LGBT community to share their life stories, which are then featured on the campaign website. Pink Dot Utah was organised by the Support Love Courage Council.2011
Pink Dot Utah 2011 was held on2012
A second Pink Dot Utah event was held on 22 September 2012 in Jordan Park,Reception
Counter-campaigns by religious groups
In 2014, Pink Dot SG drew strong opposition from some Muslim and Christian religious groups in Singapore. One response to the event was FamFest, or the Red Dot Family Movement, which was organised by LoveSingapore, a network of Singaporean churches. FamFest was initially planned to be held on the same day as Pink Dot 2014 at theOther religious groups and Pink Dot 2014
Leading up to Pink Dot SG 2014, and in response to other reactions about the event, other religious groups in Singapore made statements about their stands on LGBT issues. On behalf of the Muslim community, theCorporate sponsorship
Up until 2017, the Pink Dot SG events featured a growing number of corporate sponsors each year. The involvement of corporations in the local LGBT scene drew criticism from various socially conservative groups. In 2015, furniture retailer2016 online threat
In 2016, a Christian member of the Facebook group "We Are Against Pinkdot in Singapore" threatened to "open fire" on the community. The post was widely shared on social media and attracted much attention. The individual later apologised and claimed his post was taken out of context and was meant to be figurative. The Singaporean police investigated the individual, and the person later plead guilty to a lessened charge after aPam Oei's Faghag Play
Impact
Human rights recognition
Pink Dot SG was deemed significant enough to be included in the US Department of State's Human Rights Reports for 2009, released on 11 March 2010: Pink Dot SG was also featured in the 2011 documentary film ''Courage Unfolds'', by theGoogle's LGBT campaign
Section 377A of the Penal Code of Singapore
In 2012, Tan Eng Hong brought a court challenge of the constitutionality of section 377A of theRepeal
In February 2022, theSee also
* LGBT pride events in Singapore *References
External links