Hundreds of people dressed in pink on Saturday attended Singapore’s annual Pink Dot LGBTQ rally, the first to be held since the city-state decriminalized gay sex last year.
Brandishing rainbow flags and sporting glittery makeup, participants gathered in a downtown park — the only place in Singapore where protests are allowed without a police permit.
“I’m celebrating today because it’s been a really long fight, and you know, it’s great that love wins and the government understands that,” said Ernest Seah, a gay 58-year-old artist and teacher, who was sitting on a pink inflatable couch.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Under a colonial-era law known as Section 377A, sex between men was illegal in the Southeast Asian nation until parliament lifted the ban seven months ago. Authorities banned gay festivals and censored gay films, saying homosexuality should not be advocated as a lifestyle.
Before the change, a man found to have committed an act of “gross indecency” with another man could be jailed for up to two years, although the government in 2007 said that it would not enforce
At the same time however, lawmakers passed a constitutional amendment bolstering the existing definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.
The amendment essentially closed the door on any future legal challenges that could establish equal marital rights for LGBTQ people.
Yet change is afoot in the conservative city state with a softening of attitudes and growing tolerance of gay issues.
Singapore drag performer Yeo Sam Jo has been feeling much more confident and safe heading off to shows in the full regalia of pink sequin dress, pearl necklace and heavy makeup.
“Some people will take photos and I’ll just let them. Whatever, I’m going for work, I’m going to perform,” said Yeo, who is known on stage as “JoJo Sam Clair.”
“Sometimes the stares ... from ‘Wow, you look interesting’ to ‘Oh, you look different’ ... but nothing bad has been said or done,” Yeo said before jumping into a taxi on the way to a show.
Laavanya Kathiravelu, a sociologist at Nanyang Technological University , said changes in legislation can shift mindsets, especially in places such as Singapore, with its “strong government that has often directed the moral limits of what is acceptable or not.”
“The repeal of 377A could be interpreted as a top-down signal that the social and political landscape has changed. This means that even those who do not necessarily agree with the repeal must now respect and acknowledge these identities,” Kathiravelu said.
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