Here are some pictures from the Pink Dot event at Speakers’ Corner on Saturday. The Online Citizen will have a report and video here on Sunday.
You can view more pictures here.
Also, view more pictures, by Wallace Woon, here.
The following pictures are by TOC photographer, Damien Chng.
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To secondary 3:
Make your parents proud of you. Make society proud of you. Be an outstanding member of the community and use your bodily organs the way they were designed for. Don’t turn a one-way lane into a two-way street. Know that people will love you if you repent and choose instead the life that offers you optimal happiness. Don’t you want to have your own children one day? Don’t you want a loving wife waiting preparing breakfast for you in the morning, receiving you when you return from work, with your children? Don’t lock yourself out of these human joys–married life, fatherhood, grandfatherhood. You have an advantage already because you are not cissy. Now all you have to concentrate on is a change in attitude, since your behaviour seems to be taken care of.
To conservativevoice @ all your posts
After reading Sec 3′s post…you feel better now? Let’s hope none of your loved ones are or will go through this. For if they are…I will bet my last dollar that they won’t be getting any help from you, even if the person was your own flesh and blood. BTW, I don’t see how playing sports, pumping iron, having the “right” friends can change someone’s preference for penis to virgina and vice versa. It doesn’t even make sense.
To Sec 3
Don’t worry. Just hang in there. A time will come when the majority will you upon as a person first, regardless of your sexual orientation. In the meantime, study as hard as you can and above all, be a kind and compassionate person. There will always be people like conservativevoice. Leave them alone to hate and be ignorant in a dark corner somewhere.
To conservativevoice
“Make your parents proud of you. Make society proud of you. Be an outstanding member of the community and use your bodily organs the way they were designed for.”
So my mum’s gonna be proud of me if i’m straight, is that it?
Following your logic, my mouth is designed for talking, so if i’m mute, my parents and the society won’t be proud of me, is it?
That’s absurd.
I’m gay, and
1. I do not come from single-parent family.
2. I’m close to my parents and they’re my greatest support. I play sports, too. I’m a school team player of one of the elite schools in singapore.
3. My closest friends are all sporty, masculine, sociable and well-adjusted teenagers. They’re also from Christian denominations that are strongly against homosexuality, but they accept me as who I am and do not denounce me for that.
And no, none of my friends is gay.
Kudos to THE ONLINE CITIZEN for weeding out those who preach and try to evoke religious/ racial tension!
Dear Secondary3,
It is clear from your message that you are comfortable with who you are regardless of the treatment that people send your way. Please be strong, you’re 1.5 years from getting out of that school of yours, and trust me, you’ll meet more people in your next phase of life who will be just like you or who will understand you.
When it comes down to it, know that these idiots who taunt you and make you feel worthless are only doing it because they themselves are insecure and childish and have no alternative to deal with these emotions.
If you have a bunch of friends in school whom do not judge you, hang out with them more. What you do in secondary school does not determine the person you’ll become, but take this and use it as motivation to do better in life, and that’s how you shove it to them.
If you don’t, you can just tell your parents about the bullying (without coming out to them, if you’re not yet ready), and ask them to transfer you to another school.
Whatever it is, please don’t let the people here and the general group who identify themselves as conservatives make you feel worthless cause you are not. Take this as a lesson, to know what kind of person NOT to be.
If you need more help, there’s Oogachaga (www.oogachaga.com), which runs a helpline and support groups. Please approach them if you feel like you need a safe, non-judgemental avenue for advice.
Take care.
Reading through some of the comments disgusts me as a gay person. I was not at the pinkdot event, I don’t push my tendencies on my straight friends, and I live a balanced, moderate lifestyle.
As much as we ask for tolerance from the mainstream to accept us the way we are, we also must accept that they will always be bigotry and discrimination from whatever society we are in, majority or otherwise.
And to the Secondary 3 boy: I feel for you. I hope that your maturity will see you through this difficult part of your life. Making YOU proud of yourself should take priority over everything else. You don’t live your life for others. Balance is key. Take care and good luck!
lol conservativevoice, looks like you are still stuck in the paranoia of the 16th century, huh? So anyone who doesn’t confirm to the church’s view of a “normal human being” should be burned alive at the stake,right? I dont see how you can sleep well at night, preaching so much prejudice against your fellow countrymen, against fellow human beings. Whatever happened to “love thy neighbour?” Or are you, yourself, being a hypocrite? The bible also says not to eat shellfish and not to work on sundays. I’m guessing you dont eat prawns, huh!
And FYI, YOUR idea of “happiness” is not necessarily SOMEONE ELSE’S “happiness”. What makes YOU think you can tell other people how to live THEIR lives?
What makes you think that you know what they truly want?
What makes you think you are any “better” than them? Are they trying to be gay with you, or move into your house?? Hell no!
Secondary 3,
I’ve been there myself, came out to my friends when i was in sec 2, age 14. I am lucky to have friends and teachers who accepted, and loved me for who I truly am. Am 20 now. I understand your pain.
It might seem very tough now, but please, do not give up on yourself, even if you have doubts about your “worthiness as a human being”. Being gay or different does not mean that you are not fit to live. That is bullshit, and NO ONE has the right to tell you how to live YOUR LIFE. Ultimately, you must learn to accept yourself, be happy with yourself.
Would you be happy if you are forced into a cookie cutter society mold?
Please do not listen to the haters, for they themselves are the insecure ones.
If you are a religious person, I’m sure your God has a reason for creating you this way, and I’m sure a loving God would want YOU to accept yourself, for who you truly are.
There is no crime in being different.
The only crimes are prejudice and ignorance.
Everyone is born different, and people come in all shapes, colours, and hues. Trying to be who you are not, only brings pain and suffering.
Hang in there, and try to be positive. My heart goes out to you. Please take care of yourself. 155 joel is right, tahan abit more, and you will see light at the end of the tunnel.