The Business of Activism — Why Pink Dot continues post repeal

“(Getting to convene) with people who passionately care about something is valuable in and of itself. I think that energy is something that we don’t, as queer people, get to experience the other 364 days a year,” says Clement Tan, the spokesperson for Pink Dot SG, about the yearly protest.

“We consider ourselves very lucky because there are a lot of other causes and advocacy groups that aren’t able to muster that kind of energy in that singular moment. We’ve been very fortunate that Pink Dot has been able to do that year after year.” 

It’s a Wednesday, exactly a month before June 29, 2024, when the annual Pink Dot event will be held at Hong Lim Park. Today, I’m speaking to its organisers at the protest’s launch event to explore what the business of activism looks like when a milestone objective has been reached. 

Participants mingle at the Pink Dot 16 launch event. (Photo: Pink Dot SG)

Pink Dot is one of Singapore’s most well-known protests, which advocates for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in Singapore. Since the protests’ inception in 2009, one of their main KPIs has been the repeal of Penal Code Section 377A, which criminalised any sexual acts between men — including those in private.

Every year for 14 years, impassioned speeches at the protest advocated for the repeal of 377A, denouncing the penal code as discriminatory and a sword hanging over the heads of gay men in Singapore. It’s a constant reminder that even as the law was not enforced, gay men would still be considered criminals because of their sexual orientation.

The Penal Code was officially repealed in January of last year. Since repeal was one of Pink Dot's biggest agenda items, I asked Tan if the organisers had hesitated to hold Pink Dot this year.

“I don’t think there was ever a doubt in our minds, even after the news on the repeal came out, that there would be another Pink Dot,” Tan answers promptly. “To me, Pink Dot will exist as long as discrimination against the LGBTQ community exists. As we can see today, repeal was a significant milestone, but LGBTQ individuals and their families continue to be marginalised in so many different ways. As long as that remains true, Pink Dot will always take place.”

No one left behind

The theme of this year’s Pink Dot announced earlier in June — “No one left behind” — aims to highlight the struggles that remain after the repeal and reaffirm the desire to advance the rights of everyone within the community. 

A large portion of the day’s launch event was dedicated to a panel discussion, during which LGBTQ+ panellists from diverse parts of the community spoke about their experiences and their hope for change. 

One of the panellists was family lawyer Bozy Lu, who spoke about the legal complications that arise for queer couples during times of vulnerability. “Many policies, laws, and institutions in Singapore overlook or actively exclude LGBTQ+ people and families from areas of life that other Singaporeans take for granted,” said Lu.

“This creates additional legal hurdles or social barriers that can increase vulnerability, precarity and experiences of trauma at all stages of life, especially during major life events such as joblessness, serious illness, or death of a life partner.”

During the panel discussion, Lu shared a poignant experience involving one of her clients. The client's partner was critically ill and hospitalised, but due to not being recognised as the partner’s next of kin, the client was denied visitation rights.

And because their relationship didn't have the same legal recognition as a heterosexual one, Lu’s client was unable to be with their partner in their final moments. 

It’s an account that succinctly explains why LGBTQ+ advocates continue to seek legal recognition beyond the repeal of 377A. It also serves as a reminder that even without Section 377A, we’re only as free and equal as society permits us. 

Concentrated pink

While the panellists at the launch highlighted the myriad issues LGBTQ+ individuals still face, they also raised new questions about Pink Dot's central rallying point. Each panellist discussed different yet interrelated challenges they encounter due to their specific identities, such as medical access, housing availability, and job discrimination, outlining numerous goals for protestors to advocate for.

This complexity is expected given the diversity within the LGBTQ+ community, which leads to equally diverse societal challenges. However, this may also fragment the protest's efforts, as different groups rally around smaller, more specific goals.

For instance, some may focus on securing recognition for transgender individuals in schools, while others might advocate for the recognition of queer couples, particularly in light of Thailand's recent legalisation of same-sex marriage.

This contrasts sharply with the past, when the repeal of Section 377A provided Pink Dot with a central, unifying goal. While repealing 377A was necessary and a positive step forward, its absence leaves queer advocates without a clear, overarching metric to measure progress.

The LGBTQ+ community derives much of its strength from its united front. As various groups within the community pursue different objectives, Pink Dot attendees may find it more challenging to measure and articulate the outcomes they hope to achieve.

Possibilities under a new administration

This year, Pink Dot organisers have a new objective for all attendees to rally around: Singapore’s new 4G leadership. Our new Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong, has promised to move forward together, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to achieve the Singaporean dream.

Repeal showed protestors that change, while excruciatingly slow, is possible, and so this year, Pink Dot asks attendants to write personal letters about their hopes for the LGBTQ+ community. These letters will then be compiled and sent to Prime Minister Wong, who has promised to listen to every community in Singapore.

“This year, I would say the success of the campaign would look not just at the attendance at the park but also the kind of messages that go to the PM,” Tan explains when I ask what success looks like for Pink Dot this year. “It’s not really about quantity; I think it’s more about how heartfelt or personal those letters are. You can’t really measure that tangibly, but I think that’s what we hope to elicit.” 

While that is a nice sentiment, I remain slightly unconvinced. Observing my reticence, Tan elaborates: “Yes, we would be grateful if there was a response or if it elicited some sort of assurance from our political leaders that LGBTQ people belong here. We want to know that there is a future for us here that is worth staying and fighting for and that they will make sure that as they build this new vision, we won’t be left behind.”

“I think that would be ideal, but I don’t think we will consider this campaign a failure if that doesn’t happen.” 

Language of activism

Many years of advocacy appear to have made Tan wary of attributing the success of campaigns solely to measurable outcomes. The quarterly or yearly time frame used for typical measurable outcomes in startups and bigger companies doesn’t fit the context of activism, as its fruits are often slow to come.

To illustrate, LGBTQ+ advocates challenged 377A in court five times between 2010 and 2019, before its eventual repeal in 2022.

However, articulating the goals of human rights activism in business-like terms can be dehumanising, as it reduces LGBTQ+ rights to economic benefits. In this context, support for the LGBTQ+ community feels conditional, depending on how well LGBTQ+ rights align with business interests.

At the same time, opinions on LGBTQ+ rights in Singapore vary widely due to diverse social backgrounds. Using tangible metrics and economic framing is often the easiest way to communicate the value of LGBTQ+ rights to stakeholders in Singapore, even if it risks oversimplifying and undermining the true value of these rights.

It would be misguided to think that Tan is unaware of the fine line between framing Pink Dot with a business lens and implicitly attributing LGBTQ+ rights to economic purposes. When asked about sponsors, he brings up a number of big-name sponsors Pink Dot has attracted — “A-list sponsors like Google, Apple, Barclays, BP, and many more” — which are an affirmation of the value that Pink Dot has, but he also emphasises the social reason behind that investment.

“A lot of times, the companies that come on board don’t do so because they get anything in return.” Tan takes pains to mention how companies support Pink Dot regardless of, and not because of, economic reasons. “They do so because they believe it's the right thing to do, either because they have LGBTQ people in their lives or their companies, or they just really simply believe, in terms of the organisational values that they have, that equality is an important part of their ethos and DNA.” 

“It’s not to say that it’s easy for them to always do it; we recognise that costs are high and margins are thin, and everyone is re-assessing different ways to do things, but the ones that have stood by us year after year, we’re very grateful for them. They’ve been amazing allies.” 

This level of support persisted even after the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that "foreign entities" could not participate in events held at the Speakers’ Corner to avoid foreign influence. This meant non-Singaporean corporations couldn't be affiliated with Pink Dot in any way. 

Still, despite this restriction, Pink Dot still managed to attract numerous local sponsors. “Over 100 'Singaporean' companies stepped up to become sponsors that same year,” Tan recalls.

The term "Singaporean" is placed in quotations because the qualifications necessary for a company to count as “Singaporean” exclude many local brands. Only companies with over 50 per cent ownership and control by Singaporeans qualify, meaning that many homegrown brands do not meet this criterion. For example, a startup with one Singaporean and one Malaysian owner does not count.

Due to these requirements, Pink Dot organisers often have to turn away companies that wish to sponsor the event. Consequently, fundraising for Pink Dot remains challenging, despite the protest's high profile.

One step forward

The difficulties in finding sponsors are not the only challenges Pink Dot organisers face. Along with the announcement of the repeal, the Constitution was amended to ensure that the definition of marriage in Singapore is strictly between a man and a woman.

A Constitution is the fundamental set of principles and rules that outline the structure, functions, and limits of a government, serving as the supreme law of the country. Since the Constitution guides the laws of the country, any law enacted by Parliament that is inconsistent with the Constitution can be declared void.

Simultaneously, the Constitution was amended so that the monogamous, heterosexual definition of marriage cannot be successfully challenged—a decision prompted by the numerous times LGBTQ+ advocates challenged Section 377A in court.

According to former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, at the 2022 National Day Rally, the rationale behind this decision was that courts are not the appropriate place to decide social norms. The courts are meant to address legal issues, which are distinct from political issues.

Play

This implies that social issues should be addressed outside the courts. Therefore, LGBTQ+ rights advocates seeking recognition for same-sex marriage will need to convince the majority of Singaporeans, whom the former Prime Minister claims do not want to see changes to the family structure in Singapore.

Foreign influences

An alternative could be to take reference from Canada and recognise a different type of legal bond: common-law partnership.

A common law relationship is a romantic relationship between two people who cohabitate but are not legally married. Although the couple does not marry, this relationship is presumed to be permanent.

It may sound confusing, but to get acknowledgement of a common law partnership, the people in the relationship have to produce a considerable amount of evidence to prove that they are in a long-term relationship.

Play

Those in a common law partnership are legally bound to each other, but not to the same degree as marriage. The degree of legal benefits that common law partners have varies depending on the laws of each Canadian province.

While a common law partnership doesn’t offer the same degree of protection and legal recognition as a marriage, getting a similar type of relationship recognised in Singapore could act as a gradual step for LGBTQ+ activists who hope to achieve legal recognition of queer relationships in Singapore.

The road ahead

The path ahead for LGBTQ+ activists looks confusing and thorny. As Pink Dot continues, the organisers will face difficulties concentrating the community’s efforts and convincing the rest of Singaporean society about their cause before they can even begin advocating for legal recognition of LGBTQ+ rights. 

With all these complications ahead of him, I ask Tan what the hardest part of his job is. Faced with that open-ended question requiring vulnerability, Tan’s face becomes pensive, and he takes a moment to consider his response. The moment lasts long enough that I ask him if I am crossing a boundary.

He reassures me otherwise, and after several seconds of quiet deliberation, Tan’s answer comes out in a rush. “I think the hardest part is not really knowing whether I should stop.”

“For really passionate individuals, it’s their superpower. Their strength is also their weakness. For me, if something really catches my interest, I give it my all,” he answers, as he finds the words to explain his point. “But knowing when to pull back is really important. One of the things I’m learning along the way is that leadership involves nurturing and allowing other people to step up. And that also means ensuring that there are future generations that can continue on this work without me.”

The future of activism

As we reach the end of the interview, I ask him what gives him hope when looking at the state of the world. “I think the younger generation is much more outspoken, and they’ve got many more things figured out than I did when I was that age.” He pauses, then adds, “But I also acknowledge that they are encountering many challenges, more so than I did at that age.”

This recognition of the younger generation’s potential and the unique challenges they face is reflected in the ongoing efforts of LGBTQ+ activists and Pink Dot. These initiatives have significantly impacted the community in Singapore, providing platforms for understanding and advocacy.

For example, a frequent exhibitor at Pink Dot is Oogachaga, a non-profit organisation that works with LGBTQ+ individuals, couples, and families. Oogachaga produced a resource to help parents of transgender individuals better understand their child’s gender identity.

Moreover, the increase in education and access to information today has equipped the youth with more tools to envision the future they want. The internet provides them with a platform to speak out and find supportive communities safely.

For Tan, this increase in information is a double-edged sword. “Growing up is very challenging, and because they’re so aware of what is going on around them in the world, they’re more aware of the different stages and obstacles that are going to be in their way on every life path, especially if they’re queer.”

“The potential is there, but I really hope that as a community we can come together to provide the mental health resources that they so desperately need to overcome a lot of the harassment and bullying that we know is happening in schools.”

Although this increased knowledge concerns Tan for the younger generation, it also makes him hopeful for a future where their vision is realised, and LGBTQ+ individuals are given the same rights as other members of Singapore.

With a smile, Tan tells me: “I think we can do it.”