June is Pride Month! Here’s how (and why!) we should celebrate Pride Month and Pink Dot 2023 in Singapore with our kids

Pink Fest and Pink Dot are back with fun events for Pride Month in June 2023! Pink Dot SG has served as a safe space for the Singapore LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community since 2009, with its annual bash in Hong Lim Park. It’s always a joyous day filled with performances, fun activities, and lots of pink that puts a Singapore spin on Pride celebrations that take place around the world during June. While Pink Dot is traditionally limited to only Singaporeans and permanent residents due to government regulations around the use of Hong Lim Park, there are many other ways for everyone to participate in Pink Dot and celebrate pride month this year.

Read more: An SG Mama on Parenting & Supporting a Transgender Child

Why Get Kids Involved in Pride Month?

Pride Month is about “being able to be fully who you are, no matter who you are,” says Eliza Byard of the non-profit advocacy network GLSEN told Mashable. “When you let your child experience you talking about that, it may give them permission to be who they are.” Family participation is so crucial, as Pink Dot’s organisers point out, because for so many LGBTQ individuals in Singapore “familial relationships often get compromised due to a lack of understanding.” A big part of Pink Dot is getting people to think about the issues commonly faced by the LGBTQ community, both inside and outside of their families, with a goal of promoting understanding and unity amongst family and friends.

Even if no one in your family identifies as LGBTQ, explaining Pink Dot and its significance can help to reduce and eliminate anti-LGBT prejudice, and demonstrates to your kids the importance of being an ally (crucial here, as in the fight against racism). Just as it is important to talk to children about race from a very early age, so you can talk to your kids about LGBTQ+ identity. It needn’t be framed as a conversation about sexuality, but rather on being able to love whomever we choose, and to feel happy and confident in our own identity.

Think about what concepts your kids are familiar with – such as love, family members, friends, fairness – and also consider what you would like your child to value. Identity? Respect? Diversity? Standing up against discrimination, racism, homophobia, and transphobia? For a wealth of resources presented in a local context (and four languages), be sure to check out Congregaytion.

Read More: What I Wished My Parents Said When I Told Them I Was Gay

All About Pink Dot 2023

1. Pink Dot 2023 Theme: A Singapore for All Families

Pink Dot is back at Hong Lim Park this June! From concerts to LGBTQ+ groups, there will be a multitude of programmes available as the community is finally able to come together in-person to celebrate Pride month. The theme for the 15th edition of Pink Dot, A Singapore for All Families, is the first since the repeal of Section 377A and seeks to showcase and celebrate the families of LGBTQ+ people in all their diversity and affirm that they deserve a place in Singapore too. The Community Tent is back for Pink Dot 2023, providing support and resources to the LGBTQ+ community all year round. Visit to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community and the issues that they face in Singapore. Red Dot for Pink Dot will also return this year with a campaign to raise funds for the event. Led by business leaders, this initiative is calling on corporate companies in Singapore to take a stand for diversity and inclusivity.

2. Pink Dot 2023 Light Up

Decorate your home with pink lights during the month of June (it’ll be a fun one to do with the kids) to show support to those who might not be able to do so. Or purchase pink fairy lights from the Pink Dot e-store for $20, with proceeds supporting Pink Dot event! How much fun would it be to walk around Singapore spotting pink lights? Do note that while everyone is free to light up their own private spaces – including rooms and windows – you cannot light up common areas like corridors, the outside of HDB units, etc.

Look forward to exciting performances by homegrown artists and various local drag queens! Enjoy a relaxing picnic with your family, friends and even pet as you soak in all the wonderful performances.

When: 24 June 2023, 4pm – 8pm
Admission: Free! Do note only Singaporeans and Permanent Residents may enter the barricaded parts of the park.
Where: Hong Lim Park, New Bridge Road, Singapore 059299

4. Rainbow Families: Dear Home

Created by Rainbow Families SG, a community of LGBTQ+ folks and allies, Rainbow Families: Dear Home is an exhibition that explores what home and family means to LGBTQ+ people in Singapore. The exhibition has been set up within The Cathay and is decked out with installations featuring video interviews, workshops and even scents. The space is designed to have different rooms of a home — a kitchen, living room and bedrooms, each playing host to a different set of activities for visitors to participate in. Stay and watch the documentary where parents of LGBTQ+ persons, queer individuals, and counselling service providers were interviewed parents to understand the hope that surrounds parental acceptance of queer people in Singapore. Kids might be interested in the paper craft miniature diorama workshop!

Rainbow Families is also inviting families to do a photoshoot at Ugly Carrot Studio with a pay-as-you-wish model (from $20 onwards), with proceeds going to the exhibition funding. Find out more here.

Rainbow Families: Dear Home
When: 2-11 June 2023, 4pm – 8pm
Admission: Free!
Where: Projector X: PictureHouse, The Cathay, 2 Handy Road, Level 5, Singapore 229233

5. Pink Fest 2023: Pink Screen

This month, there’s also Pink Fest – an inclusive festival celebrating Pride month in Singapore with activities and lifestyle events. This edition is mostly made up of movie screenings – Pink Screen at The Projector will feature inspiring LGBTQ-themed films. They’re mostly rated for adults though, making it more suitable for the grown-ups to have a night out.

When: 1-30 June 2023, various timings
Admission: $15/ticket
Where: The Projector, 6001 Beach Road, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower, Singapore 199589

Further Reading with kids: Age-appropriate books to discuss identity & gender:

If you’re interested in finding age-appropriate books to help explain these topics to your kids, consider reaching out to Pelangi Pride Centre, which is run by local “lesbrarians” (lesbian +librarians) Eileena Lee and Charmaine Tan. You can find their entire catalogue online, including a dedicated children’s collection, and books are available for lending on Saturdays.

Additionally, here are a few highly recommended books geared towards children aged 3 and up:

• Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
• Daddy, Papa and Me by Leslea Newman
• The Family Book by Todd Parr
• Auntie Uncle: Drag Queen Hero by Ellie Royce
• Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
• And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
• The Different Dragon by Jennifer Bryan
• The Rainbow Flag: Bright, Bold, and Beautiful by Michelle Millar Fisher