This government blocked funding to try and stop pride, so generous locals paid for it
A pride event has gone ahead, despite its government trying to stop the event by pulling funding.
The annual Pink Dot rally, in Singapore, had relied on funding from overseas outlets to keep its event going.
In a bid to stop the rally continuing – which has been going since 2009 – Singapore’s authorities banned the event from receiving funding from foreign groups.
Previous major donors included Google, Facebook and Twitter, who had poured money into the event to help make it possible.
Organisers were terrified it would cause the event to be dropped, and struggled to make up the serious shortfall.
That’s when they turned to local businesses – who turned out huge numbers to make the event go ahead.
50 local businesses have donated to plug the gap, and the rally has found 70% of the funding they raised last year.
The rally is now set to go ahead on 1 July, thanks to the locals’ extraordinary generosity.
Singapore has staunchly anti-gay laws, with an outrage to about the ‘gay moment’ in the new film Beauty and the Beast.
The government’s rule do not totally ban overseas donors.
Foreign companies can donate if they get a permit, however these are usually rejected if the donation request relates to something controversial, such as LGBT issues.
