Tag: Pink Dot SG

End The Slur On LGBT People And Their Allies

The annual Pink Dot event has put Singapore on the map for the right reasons (“LGBT rally forms sea of pink at Hong Lim Park”; June 13, online).

It has become a beacon of hope for many who feel alone and victimised because of who they are, so much so that it has been replicated in places such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and the United States.

Of late, unfortunately, the lead-up to Pink Dot, an event emphasising tolerance, respect and love, has been marred by vitriol directed at the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community and their allies.

Hatemongers have created platforms on social media from which they hurl their slurs. Offline, some have used the pulpit to launch attacks against LGBT people and their supporters.

Many, including those who had been neutral in the issue, have felt compelled to speak out against this bigotry. But the silence of the authorities, who have intervened in racial, religious or gender discrimination, is puzzling.

Replacing the word “LGBT” in this hateful commentary with an ethnic group or religious affiliation would render the remarks seditious.

Replacing “gay” or “lesbian” with a reference to a gender, age group, social class or the disabled would not sit well with civic-minded Singaporeans.

The authorities and our politicians must not practise double standards, but be bold to speak up against such speech. Silence emboldens bigots and would mean complicity in the hate campaign.

This is not about supporting LGBT people but about supporting a society where everyone is treated with dignity and about creating a safe society, where discourse is civil.

Will our leaders respond to protect the secular space in Singapore and signal that such actions are unacceptable?

This article, written by Angeline Wong Hu Wei, first appeared on Voices, Today, on 22 Jun 2015

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 23, 2015
What Next After Pink Dot?

A Pink Dot flag-bearer observes the National Anthem at the annual event at Hong Lim Park on 13 June 2015 (Photo: Regina Goh)

As the dust of annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) awareness event Pink Dot settles from an estimated 28,000-strong turnout on Saturday, 13 June 2015, the LGBT community is taking concrete steps forward to engage more people from the varied facets of Singapore’s societal and political landscape.

Pink Dot appointed, this year, its first ever Malay ambassadors in its seven-year run – YouTube personalities Maimunah Bagharib and Hirzi Zulkiflie.

Pink Dot ambassador Hirzi Zulkifli in tears as he reads out his speech before the crowd at the recent Pink Dot event (Photo: Regina Goh)

In a show of emotion, Hirzi broke down into tears at multiple points in his speech before the Pink Dot crowd.

He said that the reason he and Maimunah decided to be ambassadors for the event this year was in response to his fans “showing signs of helplessness” after a recent meet-and-greet revealed their fears as LGBT youth.

“We cannot continue to pretend that LGBT individuals do not exist within our community just because we shut them out from our conversations,” said Hirzi, in response to youth telling him that they were depressed from a lack of avenues to address their concerns.

Hirzi gave the example of a young hijab-wearing girl who was worried about coming out as a lesbian – he hopes that his appointment as Pink Dot’s ambassador will set about a course of change in acceptance by the Malay/Muslim community.

“I really do hope that while we are the first brown ambassadors, that we are not the last either. We all have different ideas of what is right and what is wrong but we should all have the same senses for what is human,” said Hirzi.

Pink Dot efforts more than one-time event: organisers

Pink Dot spokesperson Paerin Choa (centre) with the event’s ambassadors for 2015 (Photo: Regina Goh)

Pink Dot spokesperson Paerin Choa noted that there had been advances in the treatment of the LGBT community, there have been several setbacks in the last year.

In a press conference, Choa said that a 35-second advertisement for this year’s Pink Dot that was planned to be run in cinemas was banned from theatres by the Media Development Authority (MDA).

The MDA had said that “it is not in the public interest to allow cinema halls to carry advertising on LGBT issues, whether they are advocating for the cause, or against the cause”, Choa shared.

However, Choa says steps are being taken to further societal inclusivity for LGBT people in Singapore. Although he declined to reveal specifics, he cited examples where certain Singapore government agencies had approached Pink Dot for opinions regarding LGBT issues.

Choa also noted the increasing corporate support surrounding the event. A record nine corporate sponsors came on board this year, including media heavyweights Twitter and Bloomberg. Local movie giant Cathay Organisation also became a sponsor.

Add the newly-created Pink Street – a selection of retail outlets along North Canal Road, which lines one side of Hong Lim Park, that support the event – to this.

Movement forward: inter-varsity support group launched

Five LGBT groups from four varsities in Singapore have come together to launch an inter-university LGBT network in Singapore (Photo: Inter-University LGBT Network, Singapore/Facebook)

Further to this, groups in the ‘Inter-University LGBT Network’ (Inter-Uni), which consists of five LGBT groups from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Yale-NUS College, plan to meet regularly and share resources.

Among the initiatives Inter-Uni has launched is an orientation week, with each university hosting its own LGBT orientation programme for students, staff and alumni. This would culminate in an inter-university mixer organised by all five LGBT groups where participants would get to know prospective and current students, staff and alumni from the other varsities.

There are plans for some groups to collaborate and offer regular workshops such as Gender & Sexuality 101 and Allyship 101, as well as a forum on creating more inclusive school communities. The forum is slated to take place in the next semester.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

June 23, 2015
Masyarakat Melayu-Islam Patut Boycott Cathay Cinemas

Admin,

Saya ada baca tentang sokongan yang diberi syarikat-syarikat tempatan dan MNCs untuk menjayakan acara Pink Dot. Sekarang kita baru tahu yang pawagam Cathay pun teleh berniat untuk menyiarkan iklan Pink Dot di pawagam-pawagamnya . Usaha itu buntu sebab MDA tak luluskan ikklan tersebut.

Ada pihak yang meneyeru agar Cathay diboycott. Saya sokong 100% seruan ini.

Saya bapa kepada seorang anak lelaki berusia lima tahun. Saya dan isteri dulu juga sering ke Cathay untuk menonton wayang ketika tengah dating dulu. Sekarang kita juga ke Cathay sekeluarga untuk menonton cartoon…hiburan untuk anak.

Jadi saya sekeluarga kecewa apabila diberitahu yang makanan dan minuman yang dijual Cathay tidak lagi Halal. Saya rasa terkilan. Memanglah kita boleh melanggani pawagam lain tetapi Cathay yang penuh bermakna bagi saya sekeluarga.

Saya tertanya menagapa Cathay membuat langkah komersil sedemikian? Mungkin jumlah penonton Islam kekurangan. Mungking Cathay tak kisah langsung dan tidak endahkan maklum balas daripada pelanngan Islam mereka.

Tetapi ianya lebih jelasa sekarang.

Cathay lebih rela mempromosikan acara yang bercanggah dengan ajaran Islam daripada menjaga hati pelanggan Muslim. Bila makan minum dah tak halal dan mereka juga menyokong aktiviti haram, apa lagi yang boleh penonton lakukan?

Tak payah kita buat bising. Jawapannya senang je. Kita sama-sama boycott Cathay, walau berat hati nak lakukannya.

Adam

[Reader Contribution]

June 18, 2015
Obama Trade Will Export Sexual Deviancy

There are many sound reasons to oppose the ObamaTrade bill that the president is seeking to ram through Congress, aided and abetted by Republicans who are in hock to Big Business.

But a little discussed reason to flatly oppose this bill is that it will become a major tool to export sexual deviancy to the world. In other words, it’s as much about Big Gay as it is Big Pharma.

President Obama has appointed no less than seven openly homosexual and intersexed – whatever that is – ambassadors to push his agenda around the world.

They are salivating over the prospect of Republicans giving the president another weapon to use in promoting and advancing the worldwide normalization of the infamous crime against nature.

In a letter posted on the White House website and dated June 9 (which you can read here), these gay ambassadors are unambiguous about their intentions to ram homosexuality down the throats of every nation which becomes a member of the Trans Pacific Partnership.

Here are some excerpts from their manifesto, with explanatory commentary in parentheses:

“As Ambassadors, we are on the front lines representing the United States. We know firsthand that U.S. interests are best served when we pursue policies that also advance our values. (I.e., the value of granting special protections for sexual behavior that is unnatural, immoral, and unhealthy)

“That’s why trade policy is among our most promising tools. (I.e, we can’t wait to get started with the global agenda of forcing homosexuality on everybody, so please, please, please, Republicans, help our president pass this into law.)

“Done right, trade policy is a strong complement to our broader bilateral efforts to urge partner countries to defend and protect the human rights of all individuals. (I.e., including the “right” to engage in sexually deviant behavior with governmental approval.) In many ways, the two issues go together: open markets promote development, raise wages, and increase living standards, which in turn goes hand-in-hand with more open and engaged societies that demand a higher standard of protection for civil rights. (I.e., once the TPP is passed, we are going to force nations to celebrate homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism, and intersexuality whether they want to or not.)

“We are proud to be part of an Administration that remains deeply committed (i.e., this is not incidental but central to our mission as ambassadors) to the advancement of human rights for all, including LGBTI persons. President Obama recently said that “all people deserve (i.e., if you disagree with us, you’re a homophobic bigot) to live free from fear, violence, and discrimination, regardless of who they are or whom they love.” The Administration has backed up those words with actions, including through the issuance of a Presidential Memorandum to advance the human rights of LGBTI persons worldwide. This commitment is also clear in trade priorities like TPP, which would represent a significant expansion of enforceable labor rights (i.e., other nations will be made to toe the line regardless of their own cultural and moral values), and would support the elimination of discrimination with respect to employment. (I.e, we will punish, silence and marginalize anyone who gets in our way.)

“We are committed to working closely with the White House to ensure that any trade arrangement approved by Congress is a force for progress on human rights for everyone, including for LGBTI persons. (I.e, we are not going to ask, we’re going to give orders.) By moving forward with President Obama’s trade agenda, we can create a more prosperous, more innovative, and more secure global market and global workplace for the 21st century. With America’s interests and values on the line, we hope Congress passes trade promotion authority without delay.”(I.e., we need this tool in our toolkit immediately so we can force this agenda on as much of the world as possible before the president leaves office.)

In other words, this bill is not just about fast tracking trade. It’s about fast tracking sin.

Bottom line: if you support sexual deviancy, you’ll love ObamaTrade. If you oppose sexual deviancy, you will call your congressman immediately and urge him in the strongest possible term to stop this morally dangerous bill dead in its tracks.

(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)

Source:www.afa.net

June 18, 2015
Thousands Of Christians Wear White In Opposition To Pink Dot Sg
Over 6,400 Christians dressed in white on Sunday afternoon to attend a special “family worship” service conducted by Singapore’s Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC), according to organisers.

The service was held at a full-house Suntec Convention Centre and led by FCBC founder and pastor Lawrence Khong, who earlier called on his followers to wear white over the weekend to protest the annual Pink Dot gay rights rally on Saturday.

Khong, who supports keeping a Singapore law that criminalises sex between men, released a statement on Friday pointing to the Pink Dot movement as a “decline of moral and family values”.

Into its sixth year running, Pink Dot saw an estimated record-breaking crowd of 26,000 gather at Hong Lim Park to discourage gay discrimination.
In a survey on social morality released by the Institute of Policy Studies earlier this year, 78.2 per cent of respondents said sexual relations between two adults of the same sex was wrong, and 72.9 per cent did not agree with gay marriage.

“Pink Dot is right to protest for greater freedom and equality. I respect their push for greater inclusion,” said FCBC member Teo Yee Nam ahead of the Sunday service. “But I feel they have to be mindful of society’s stance on the traditional grounds of marriage.”

Other FCBC members Yahoo Singapore spoke to concurred, saying they were wearing white not to explicitly oppose Pink Dot, but to support their pastor Khong and the idea of a traditional family unit involving one man, one woman and children.

“We’re just coming together to worship God, and wearing white to have the spirit of supporting family,” said Maisy, a 39-year-old homemaker. “Pink Dot have their own position. We don’t have anything against them… after all, we’re all Singaporeans.”

The campaign to wear white was originally started more than a week ago by Singaporean Muslim teacher Ustaz Noor Deros, who asked Muslims to avoid Pink Dot and instead don white garments for Ramadan eve prayers on Saturday night.

Not all Muslims seemed to be aware of the initiative when Yahoo visited the prominent Masjid Sultan at Kampong Glam, but others elsewhere posted photos of themselves wearing white on social media under the hashtag “#wearwhite”.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com
June 18, 2015