Pink Dot vs Wear White - a UK perspective

Hi readers, as we are preparing to celebrate London Gay Pride tomorrow (which coincidentally falls on the same day as Pink Dot this year) I would like I offer my response to this whole Pink Dot vs Wear White debate in Singapore. I recognize that some of the members of the LGBT community in Singapore as well as those who are pro-equality are getting nervous because this is the first time the religious community have taken a stance like that against the Pink Dot movement. I have read this piece on TOC by Ghui - he is almost pleading, begging for a little respect, for equality from the Wear White movement. I can only shake my head as he asks for "a little mutual respect" for the simple reason: he's never gonna get it. Why ask for something you're never going to get? 

Here in the UK, we have come a long way in terms of gay rights: there is plenty of legislation to protect the rights of gays in the UK and most of it comes within the context of equality. So for example, gays have the right to be protected against discrimination in the workplace, it is illegal for an employer to fire or mistreat an employee on the basis of his/her sexuality. Same-sex couples can get married and we have plenty of openly gay politicians in public office today. But has all this stopped the hardcore anti-gay religious groups from being vehemently homophobic?

Pink Dot in Singapore in the early years

No. It has not - they continue to hate gays and do show up at the gay pride events every year to protest. They camp out at the same corner on the Pall Mall-Waterloo Place junction on the parade route and there is usually a strong police presence there to keep a distance between the religious protesters and those participating in the parade. Thanks to the strong police presence, there have never been any incidents of conflict at that potential flash point. If a Christian protester tries to picket the event anywhere else on the parade route, s/he would be told to move to that designated area. Now there are several ways you can respond to such a protest:

1. Acknowledge their presence as a reminder of an imperfect society

Gay pride events are great fun, there is a great carnival atmosphere, there is music and dancing in the streets, and amongst all this colourful celebration, it is important to remind everyone - not just the gay community but also straight people as well - that there are still people who hate homosexuals and who want to destroy this equality that we have fought so hard to establish in a civilized society. Even on a day of celebration, it is necessary to show people that the battle is ongoing and that Gay Pride is not just a day for music and dancing, but also it symbolizes a struggle for equality against those who think that gays do not deserve equality. Thus in that context, we should be grateful that these religious protesters have chosen to be a part of our gay pride events, to remind the world just how ugly their threat is, lest younger people get complacent about just how hard we had to fight to get the equality we enjoy today.

2. Look at the evolution of gay pride events over time

In the first gay pride march in London in 1971, only 200 marchers participated with a big police presence - the police presence was necessary to prevent the marchers from being attacked from homophobic protesters who didn't want the march to go ahead. Fast forward to more enlightened times, in 2013, half a million people took part in the event with about 20 or so religious protesters in a designated protest area on the Pall Mall-Waterloo Place Junction. This is a process that takes many years and London is at least a few decades ahead of Singapore in this process - it takes time for the values of tolerance, respect and equality to grow in a civilized society and the brave 200 marchers in 1971 have sowed the seeds of tolerance and equality that we are reaping today.

3. Celebrate the fact that you didn't get ignored

You know what the worst case scenario is for an event like Pink Dot? That is if the event came and went and society just went back to business as usual, as if it had never ever happened. Nothing changes and your event is a meaningless gesture, a little concession from the government to express your point of view but you are essentially ignored. The fact that the religious community is reacting with the Wear White movement is a good thing - yes you're ruffling some feathers in provoking a rather big reaction reaction out of them this year, but at least this leads to healthy, active debate on the issue of equality which can lead to progress. Holding on to the status quo where Pink Dot is effectively ignored isn't an ideal result at all because being ignored doesn't lead to any kind of progress at all. 

Is provoking a reaction a right or wrong thing to do?

4. Ignore them and don't let them get you down. 

At the end of the day, I pick my battles. Trying to get a religious zealot to change his point of view is not something I want to take on as it would be picking a losing battle - it is very difficult to say the least and it is going to be an extremely frustrating process. In the UK where I live, I have this "let's agree to disagree" attitude when it comes to homophobic religious zealots. I am an atheist who doesn't believe in the concept of god or any kind of religious doctrine - I am quite happy to respect the rights of religious people to practice their religion as long as they do not inflict their religion points of views on me or worse, try to convert me. No, I just want them to leave me alone the same way I am quite happy to leave them alone. Such is the nature of a secular society, where we have a truce to agree to disagree on matters regarding religion.

5. Accept the diversity of opinion in society 

I accept the fact one will never have 100% consensus on any issue in society and it is impossible to get everyone to agree on any issue. That's not how it works - let's take something as basic as income tax: how much tax should we pay? There is a wide range of views on that issue and should income tax be totally scrapped just because we can't get 100% consensus on the issue? (I wish, if only.) No, instead the government decides how much tax we should pay and like it or not, we pay our taxes because it is the law. Why should it be any different on the issue of gay rights then? There will always be somebody that's unhappy with the way things are in the country on any given topic, so let's just accept that as the natural order of society and not be too worked up over the Dress White campaign. Somebody will always be pissed off about something and guess what? That's completely normal, so please, just relax lah.

So that's it from me on this issue. I wish everyone taking part in Pink Dot 2014 a wonderful day and I look forward to reading about your event in social media.  What are your thoughts on the issue?  Have you been to a Pink Dot event in Singapore before? Do leave me a comment below and let me know what you think. Many thanks for reading.