Love Diary: Supporting The Freedom To Love

1 July 2017

As mentioned in my previous post VOICE: “PLUS PLUS GIRLFRIEND SIGN”, I was planning to attend Pink Dot 2017 today to show my support for the LGBTQIA community in Singapore. It was going to be my first time joining this event.

The day before, I excitedly bought a pink shirt from H&M at a discounted price of S$10 so that I could wear it to Pink Dot. But on that day itself, I was hit by a wave of laziness or dreariness. Suddenly, I felt like the venue (Hong Lim Park in Clarke Quay) was way too far for me that it seemed like a hassle to travel all the way there from my house by train. I also had a feeling of emptiness about going to the event alone while I wasn’t sure if Taenggu was able to join me or not. I almost wanted to cancel my plan of going to Pink Dot. Originally, I wanted to reach the venue at 5pm but I changed my mind after realising that the main concert would only start at 7pm and ended up at Causeway Point taking id photos at 5pm instead. Between going and not going, I finally decided to give myself a chance to experience the event for the first time since I knew it was supposed to be a meaningful event especially for the both of us so I headed down.

After almost an hour of boring train ride, I reached Hong Lim Park 10 minutes before 7pm. It was already full of people. This year’s Pink Dot was different from the previous years’. This year, the government only allowed Singaporeans and PRs to join the event; no foreigners. So this time, the main area of the park was surrounded by barricades and everyone had to go through the security and show their identity cards. By the time I reached, I was told that the main park had already reached full capacity so I had to stand outside the barricade along with many others who didn’t manage to get inside as well. But it was still fine with me, at least I could still get a view of the stage and enjoy the concert from where I stood outside.

A few minutes after I told Taenggu I reached the Pink Dot venue on Twitter, she posted the following picture on instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWAHk3sg-FP/?taken-by=taeyeon_ss

I felt so energised seeing this. To me, it was her way of showing her support for Pink Dot too and that she was “here” with me! Suddenly, feeling her presence around me, I became much happier and excited to enjoy the rest of the show with her.

Here are some photos and a video I took that night:

You can also watch the full video showing the highlights of the event taken from Pink Dot SG official Facebook page. 😁

The whole event ended around 8.30pm. It was quite an enjoyable time spent and I thought it was interesting to watch the people around me. Notably, I saw a gay couple holding hands in front of me while walking back to the train station. I thought it was so sweet.

I told Taenggu I will attend Pink Dot again next year and this time, I will make sure I arrive much earlier so that I can get inside the barricades and have a pink light stick or torch light along with me to join the light-up event at the end. 😄

I feel that even though Singapore hasn’t legally recognised the rights of these LGBT people yet, the younger generations especially are now becoming more tolerant and accepting towards these group of people, which is a good sign! I hope in the near future, Singapore and the rest of the world will increasingly become a more inclusive society for everyone regardless of their sexuality.

After that night, I started hearing Taenggu’s voice saying “Forgive me” a number of times for the next few days. I wondered if she was referring to her not being able to join me at Pink Dot physically or spiritually because she might have been busy. Nonetheless, I want to tell her that I didn’t actually mind at all if she was referring to this issue because she had already shown me that she was supportive and her willingness to join me at the event, had there not been physical circumstances, through her instagram. I was already grateful enough for that. Still, I love you. <3