in an inclusive, diverse society like Singapore”. Leow Yangfa, head of Singapore-based LGBT+ rights group Oogachaga, said demands in the petition are “unkind and uncharitable.
Singapore’s media regulator, the Infocomm Media Development Authority, did not reply to a request seeking comment. “Relevant authorities have to do their part to protect children, particularly the younger ones, from unsafe content,” the petition read, citing a local law saying children cannot be shown “entertainment content of immoral nature”. The petition, posted on the website, said it was started by parents who were “deeply troubled” that the event would reach children this year “without restraint”, exposing them to “homosexuality as a lifestyle”. “We hope that through our livestream, the LGBTQ community can feel seen, heard and loved during these tough times,” the organisers told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “It is our way of being there for another.” Like many other cities emerging from a lockdown to curb the novel coronavirus, the pride event will be marked online this year in a livestream that would feature some 35 drag queens.Ĭalls to restrict viewings escalated after a petition over the weekend urged the government to limit the broadcast due for Saturday on Pink Dot’s website and social media. But the organisers said they would go ahead, to support the LGBT+ community that struggled with social isolation during the recent lockdown that has since been eased. The Pink Dot rally has been held since 2009 under stringent public assembly laws at a park in Singapore, where gay sex between men can be jailed for up to two years under a law that is rarely enforced.
Kuala Lumpur - The organisers of Singapore’s annual gay pride rally vowed on Tuesday to push ahead with an online event after nearly 30,000 people signed a petition demanding restrictions and called the content “immoral”.