Record turnout for Singapore gay rally amid religious protests

(Participants form a giant pink dot at the Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park in Singapore June 28, 2014. REUTERS/Edgar Su )

June 29, 2014
By Tom Heneghan

One of the largest crowds ever recorded in Singapore for a civil society gathering turned out on Saturday at a gay rights rally, against a backdrop of noisy opposition from religious groups in the run-up to the event.

An estimated 26,000 people descended on Hong Lim Park for the “Pink Dot”, an annual event since 2009 that aims to discourage discrimination against same-sex couples.

Sex between two men is illegal in Singapore and punishable with up to two years in prison, though it is rarely enforced. The law, based on English texts from the island’s colonial period, makes no mention of lesbians.

The rally, which saw people dress in pink for a picnic and concert in the park and then gather in a circle to form a “pink dot”, has previously taken place without much visible protest.

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2014/06/29/record-turnout-for-singapore-gay-rally-amid-religious-protests/