Are We Ready?

Last evening, Pink Dot SG celebrated their 10th anniversary. Thousands thronged Hong Lim Park decked in pink to mark this occasion. The event was capped off with a light up at the end, a sea of pink with a large "READY" in white to signify this year's theme, "We Are Ready". The event coincided with the National Day Parade Rehearsal, so there was this significant moment when the helicopters with the national flag flew past Hong Lim Park.

It is then when I thought, it is really time to discuss if Singapore is indeed ready to accept the LGBT society yet. There has been a lot of discourse about it over the last few years, be it through interviews with PM Lee Hsien Loong and an old interview with late Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, or also be it through the controversy Pink Dot events have caused (or gone through). It is certainly time for us to take note on how far the LGBT society has come in Singapore, and whether is it time for us to take the next step forward.

Before I provide my views on whether Singapore is ready to accept this society, I need to point out that my views on LGBT does not matter at all. I am looking at this issue of whether the State at present can accept this group, rather than if I as an individual support them. Therefore, this post does not represent my own views, but rather the view I think society has.

2 weeks ago, I used LGBT as an example on how society's views decide the laws of a land. I mentioned that Singapore was not ready to accept LGBT fully, and that's why we cannot repeal Section 377A of the penal code and legalize same sex marriage. I still maintain this view, in that Singapore is still not ready to fully accept this group, as a society and as a nation. This is due to 2 main reasons, as I'll share below.

1. The numbers of the LGBT society is simply not enough to convince a nation

The Pink Dot event last evening showed thousands lighting up Hong Lim Park to say that "We Are Ready". I also do recognize that the LGBT society is growing in numbers, in terms of LGBT personnel and their supporters. But is this really enough to show that Singapore as a whole is ready to accept?

There are certainly many people who are on the fence when it comes to this issue, some are neutral (like they can exist, just dont affect my life please), some are more ambivalent, and some are just apathetic over it. There are also groups which are against the LGBT society, be it religious groups and "family values" societies with significant online presence speaking out against the LGBT society and pushing back against their development.

As long as the churches and mosques in Singapore cannot accept LGBT groups, legalizing same-sex marriage will only threaten the religious harmony in Singapore and the close bond our religious groups have with the government. Our pledge reads "Regardless of Race, Language, or Religion", showing the nation's priority of protecting religious harmony, rather than accepting liberal pushes.

The issue also goes beyond religion, to the ordinary folk who may not support or do not have enough information to make a stand too.

I'm not saying that Pink Dot is a useless event. In fact, I feel that it is a good showing of support and unity for the LGBT society, and a good way to spread awareness.

But you cannot have a few thousand people light up Hong Lim Park and then say the 5.6 million people in Singapore are ready. It's simply not enough.

2. The lack of knowledge many have on what it means to have a national society with LGBT.

This point does not have anything to do with the LGBT society, rather the rest of Singapore. Because of the low number of LGBT people in Singapore, many do not know what it is like to know someone from the LGBT group, or even interact or work with them. There is too few information or experience for the general folk to pass a knowledge or understanding of LGBT groups. (Though this may change if awareness is spread more and the group of LGBT supporters grow larger and wider)

Accepting LGBT as a nation goes beyond accepting that these people exist, we have to accept that they are normal. This means we have to think they are no different from us, and they were born like that (okay, there's some scientific findings but that's not the point). To the point that we won't blink an eye, or be confused when we see 2 guys or 2 girls holding hands walking down Orchard Road. At an age where children throw "gay" and "fa**ot" as insults, are we truly able to accept the LGBT society as a nation?

And while many liberals say that they accept LGBT full-heartedly, many of them have had limited exposure to actual LGBT personnel. It's okay to see 2 strangers of the same gender expressing their love for each other, but what if one of them is their brother, sister, best friend, or maybe even crush or partner? Will they be able to take such a realization that someone very close to them is an LGBT personnel?

There is too little information possessed by the general folk for them to make an informed decision on the matter, such that saying whether one accepts or rejects the LGBT society may not be truly representative nor accurate of the person's beliefs.

Therefore, until there is more education, more awareness, more acceptance, more outreach, more discourse, more understanding, and more support, Pink Dot will remain to be just an annual event, and Singapore will not be ready.