Pink Dot happened last Saturday and of course I was there, along with three of my friends. The post here will be my thoughts and there will be no photos. You can see the photos on my Twitter or Facebook.

Last year when I asked Harmony along, she had been very sporting and I felt that since both of us could be accepting, I thought why not get more of my other friends to support? So I broached the subject with Eggie on Whatsapp and she agreed to go and even suggested that I could ask Hui Koon and Yulan along.

I was a little apprehensive at first as I have no clue at all what Yulan and Hui Koon thought of the LGBT community. The subject never really turned up in our conversation even though the four of us are good friends. As a matter of fact, I do hope that one day, sexual orientation would no longer matter and be a matter of conversation.

Anyways, it turned out well because my friends are awesome, like me. *flicks hair*

Hui Koon arrived a little later than us and she wondered if the people in pink were gay. It got me wondering about what other people thought of me. Did they know about Pink Dot? Would they think that I am gay? I wondered what would happen if my students’ parents saw me in pink, on the way to Pink Dot, and assumed that I am a lesbian.

Then I stopped worrying because worrying never does anyone any good. It should not matter anyway because it wouldn’t change a thing. I was still going to Pink Dot, wearing pink.

I had a moment of revelation, that the feeling of anxiety that I had, must be what the LGBT community face every single day, multiplied a hundred fold. Some manned up and got out of the closet, while others still stay inside worrying. I hoped that I had made a difference, however little, by being there.

All four of us had fun that day. For us, it was a normal girls day out, picnicking on a mat and catching up on what happened in our lives recently. At the end of the event, while we were leaving, the waving sea of pink lights were dazzling and a beautiful sight to behold.

It is invigorating to know that more people turned up than last year. A 21 000 strong crowd as compared to last year’s 15 000. Maybe next year, Hong Lim Park would no longer be able to contain the amount of participants. ^_^

P.s. If you wonder why I support the LGBT community, read what I wrote about Pink Dot 2012.

PinkDot 2012

I asked Harmony along to PinkDot and she sportingly agreed. It is an event to spread awareness and promote acceptance of the LGBT community in Singapore. It was held at Hong Lim Park today at 6pm. You can read more about it here.

As usual, we took quite a few photos.

ShareTea dabaoed all the way from Yishun.

Sick of our faces yet? （≧∇≦）

From hot pink to baby pink, pastel pink and shell pink. There were pink balloons, pink shoes, pink shorts, pink hair and pink pyjamas..

Everybody was wearing pink and it was just wonderful to see so many shades of pink.

You probably can’t tell, as It is too small, but it’s a flying camcorder!!

Harmony said that she saw it flying into trees.

∑(ﾟДﾟ) Like that still can work?

There were performances on the stage too, but we were too far away (and too short) to truly appreciate them.

So we camwhored.

When dusk came, everyone gathered in a group and pointed our pink lights into the sky and this is what the vantage camera captured..

Photo taken from PinkDot’s twitter.

15000 people turned up and I’m glad that more and more people are becoming more open-minded.

I think I’ve never told anyone why I’m a supporter before. This all goes back to one of my ex-boyfriend who has a gay brother. His brother experienced bouts of depression and coped by slashing himself. He entertained thoughts of committing suicide all because he thought his family wouldn’t accept him for who he is.

I also remember, with a sick feeling in my stomach, how some of the boys in my JC class laughed at our GP teacher about how gay he was. The harassment during lessons were so bad, the teacher broke his contract and left the school. Subsequently, he went overseas to work and I never heard from him again.

Granted that the teacher probably had better offers elsewhere but I think the bullying contributed to his decision to leave the school. And I am ashamed to say that I did nothing to stop them. This guilt stayed with me till this very day. I should have told them off, or at least tried to stop them. My silence was just as bad as their bullying.

This year, I won’t make the same mistake again. I believe that everyone should be free to love whoever they want to. And if wearing pink for one day each year can help to move a step forward towards that, then so be it. I’ll gladly do it every year.

And I hope that more and more of my friends will join me every year to support PinkDot. ( ^ω^ )