Why allow such leeway?

SINGAPORE - I find it totally confounding that Pink Dot is allowed to promote its agenda. I find it even more disconcerting that the event is being used as a platform of public persuasion to push its alternative lifestyle.

A spokesman for Pink Dot publicly declared the organisers' objective to "change society's attitude".

He went on to say that 'when society's attitude has changed, all these laws (377A) and regulations will naturally also change… Pink Dot has always been a social movement to change hearts and minds'.

(Section 377A of the Penal Code criminalises sex between two men, with a jail term of up to two years.)

This is no good for Singapore. Why then is our Government giving Pink Dot public space to push its agenda and grow its movement?

This simply does not square with what Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his 2007 Parliamentary speech on 377A: 'Homosexuals work in all sectors, all over the economy, in the public sector and in the civil service as well.

'They are free to lead their lives, free to pursue their social activities. But there are restraints and we do not approve of them actively promoting their lifestyles to others, or setting the tone for mainstream society.'

DRAW A CLEAR LINE

So why are we giving Pink Dot leeway to promote its alternative lifestyles in such a high-profile way? I would like to see our Government leaders draw a clear line on where they now stand with regard to this moral issue.

The gay activists will not stop at just repealing 377A. They will push for more. They want to redefine love, redefine marriage, and redefine family.

Is this the kind of Singapore we can be proud of and want for our children?

In the past decade or more, our leaders have made considerable efforts to reinforce the family institution as basic and foundational to nation building.

They have worked hard encouraging heterosexual marriage and family formation to bring up the next generation, and ensure the continuity of this nation.

Pink Dot's agenda goes against our national interests.

If it is allowed to continue, the day will come when we will no longer recognise the Singapore that we and our founding fathers have worked so hard to build.

Statement from Reverend Lawrence Khong, founder and senior pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church

This article was first published on June 28, 2014.
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