Pink Dot: Cultural and Sexual Citizenship in Gay Singapore

Once considered the Asian country least likely to have any positive LGBT developments (Leong 1997), Singapore has witnessed a number of such advances in the last decade. Invoking the ideas of cultural and sexual citizenship to critically frame my examination of a failed gay pride parade and an immensely successful rally for the freedom to love called “Pink Dot,” I make two assertions. First, I maintain that attempts at asserting one’s citizenship succeed more often when they take into account the country’s communitarian ideals. Second, I argue that Singaporeans once gave the state the right to determine the contours of their citizenship, but now take full advantage of every single loosening of the state’s rules. This study illuminates the processes of queer cultural citizen-making in Singapore.