Speaker’s Corner at Hong Lim Park in Singapore will once again turn a rosy hue for Pink Dot, which will be on Saturday 29 June this year.

Like last year, those who believe that everyone should have the ‘freedom to love’ with gather at dusk with pink lights to form a dot showing there is support for LGBT rights in socially conservative Singapore.

The festival has grown exponentially since it started 2009 when 2,500 people turned out to show support. Last year there were 15,000 people so that the dot over-flowed out of the small park.

The organizers had hoped that the government would allow the festival to move into a larger space this year, but that didn’t happen. Speaker’s Corner at Hong Lim Park is the only place in Singapore where people are allowed to protest.

In an interview with Gay Star News last December, Pink Dot committee member Paerin Choa said that if the government allowed the festival to move to another space it would be an offical stamp of approval. Sadly, that doesn’t seem likely to happen.

This year has the potential to be a significant milestone in the passage of LGBT rights in Singapore, with the law that criminalizes gay sex being challenged in the High Court.