Thousands of Singaporean Christians wear white to protest Pink Dot gay rally

Yahoo Newsroom – The turnout at Faith Community Baptist Church's Sunday service. (Photo courtesy of Faith Community Baptist Chu …

Over 6,400 Christians dressed in white on Sunday afternoon to attend a special "family worship" service conducted by Singapore's Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC), according to organisers.

The service was held at a full-house Suntec Convention Centre and led by FCBC founder and pastor Lawrence Khong, who earlier called on his followers to wear white over the weekend to protest the annual Pink Dot gay rights rally on Saturday.

Khong, who supports keeping a Singapore law that criminalises sex between men, released a statement on Friday pointing to the Pink Dot movement as a "decline of moral and family values".

"Taking a #selfie with more than 6000 members in just one service, all #wearwhite to defend marriage." @LawrenceKhong pic.twitter.com/Byor2gu4FW

— FCBC (@FCBCsg) June 29, 2014

Into its sixth year running, Pink Dot saw an estimated record-breaking crowd of 26,000 gather at Hong Lim Park to discourage gay discrimination.

Participants dressed in pink read about issues of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LBGT) community at a question-and-answer area where participants are free to write their questions and ... more Participants dressed in pink read about issues of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LBGT) community at a question-and-answer area where participants are free to write their questions and answers, before taking part in the forming of a giant pink dot at the Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park in Singapore June 28, 2014. The annual Pink Dot Sg event promotes an acceptance of the LBGT community in Singapore, according to organisers. REUTERS/Edgar Su (SINGAPORE - Tags: SOCIETY) less 

[See more pics from Pink Dot 2014]

Despite the increasing number of people participating in Pink Dot annually, Singapore remains a largely conservative society.

In a survey on social morality released by the Institute of Policy Studies earlier this year, 78.2 per cent of respondents said sexual relations between two adults of the same sex was wrong, and 72.9 per cent did not agree with gay marriage.

"Pink Dot is right to protest for greater freedom and equality. I respect their push for greater inclusion," said FCBC member Teo Yee Nam ahead of the Sunday service. "But I feel they have to be mindful of society's stance on the traditional grounds of marriage."

Other FCBC members Yahoo Singapore spoke to concurred, saying they were wearing white not to explicitly oppose Pink Dot, but to support their pastor Khong and the idea of a traditional family unit involving one man, one woman and children.

"We're just coming together to worship God, and wearing white to have the spirit of supporting family," said Maisy, a 39-year-old homemaker. "Pink Dot have their own position. We don't have anything against them… after all, we're all Singaporeans."

The campaign to wear white was originally started more than a week ago by Singaporean Muslim teacher Ustaz Noor Deros, who asked Muslims to avoid Pink Dot and instead don white garments for Ramadan eve prayers on Saturday night.

Not all Muslims seemed to be aware of the initiative when Yahoo visited the prominent Masjid Sultan at Kampong Glam, but others elsewhere posted photos of themselves wearing white on social media under the hashtag "#wearwhite".

[<a href="//storify.com/YahooSG/singaporeans-wearwhite-to-protest-pink-dot-rally" target="_blank">View the story "Singaporeans #WearWhite to protest Pink Dot movement" on Storify</a>]<h1>Singaporeans #WearWhite to protest Pink Dot movement</h1><h2>A campaign launched by Singaporean Muslim teacher Ustaz Noor Deros saw both Muslims and Christians don white garments over the weekend as a symbol of protest against the annual Pink Dot gay rights rally held Saturday evening at Hong Lim Park.</h2><p>Storified by <a href="https://storify.com/YahooSG">YahooSG</a>· Sun, Jun 29 2014 14:15:32</p><div>Some Muslims wore white to attend special prayers on Saturday Ramadan eve.<br><p></p></div><div>To all muslims . This is actually a way to condemn the PinkDot movement #WearWhite http://t.co/fAg2gdZEvO.</div><div>#wearwhite http://t.co/YwBtgTqTlADominic Toretto</div><div>Return to Fitrah! Return to Our Natural State! #wearwhite http://t.co/UwICGPh8qNZ.A</div><div>#wearwhite #wearanythingaslongasitismodestandnotsupportinganyunislamicevents #MDMHeheمحمد شفيق بن عبد الحليم</div><div>#onegodsg #missiondawahsg #wearwhite #returntofitrah #followthesunnah #ramadhan1435hالصراط المستقيم</div><div>#wearwhite http://t.co/nmX5XHB0cCKhairunnisa N.</div><div>#wearwhite #WeBelieveInPurity #StandUpForWhatIsRight #WeOppose #28thJune2014Daniel Sim</div><div>#wearwhite against #LGBT & #pinkdotjohan shah</div><div>If you keep normalizing the abnormal, where do we draw the line? #wearwhiteKhairul</div><div>#WearWhite? How about no.I'm a regular, practicing Muslim dude (not the best, but hey I'm trying).… http://t.co/Jyydid82fsfar han</div><div>#wearwhite hehehe http://t.co/I9P9TuRfh1Noor Fazilah</div><div>I'm wearing neither #white or #pink today! I go #red n #black instead! Have a great weekend guys! #wearwhite #sg #wearredinstead #Godislove #Godlovesallsen2701</div><div>Yes, the homosexuals have an agenda to turn eVERYONE GAY!!!!!!11!!!1 SPREAD IT!!! SPREAD DA WURD!!!!!! #wearwhite #praise2godYeung Wan</div><div>If LGBT have the right to want to be LGBT, Religious groups have the right to condemn it. #WearWhite #AgainstPinkDotIrfan Aurangzeb</div><div>#wearwhite is just another example of how backwards religion makes people.Serpentine</div><div>#wearwhite is stupid.. I thought as Muslims we're supposed to accept anybody and everybody regardless of anything??Nadia 나디아</div><div>There is so much of stupidity and ignorance in this #wearwhite movement that it makes me wanna puke.Anishah Singh❤</div><div>I respect #WearWhite because I understand LGBT is against their religion I respect it. But, even as a straight person, I do not support it.Naveen:)</div><div>Christian members of the Faith Community Baptist Church, headed by pastor Lawrence Khong, as well as the LoveSingapore network of churches, also dressed in white to the weekend's services.</div><div>Wear white in support of natural families ❤️ Father And Mother I Love You. We celebrate and honour the roles of each family member. And uphold the family as the foundation of our lives, and the building block of society (Family Pledge). Yay @bbtcyouthchurch is wearing white today #famfest2014 #wearwhite #IYF2014christine </div><div>"Taking a #selfie with more than 6000 members in just one service, all #wearwhite to defend marriage." @LawrenceKhong http://t.co/Byor2gu4FWFCBC</div><div>united we stand as one #wearwhite #famfest @ Suntec Convention Centre http://t.co/cSsDxcsDTGQiaoTian</div><div>#FamFest2014 #WearWhite Cr. @sharegracee http://t.co/rEoXStBuQ4Cyrus Li</div><div>FCBC Combined Family Service! :D #famfest2014 #fcbc #wearwhite #seaofwhite #challengeaccepted… http://t.co/XBylNqHYSpAWDWEE [���]</div><div>Arise Shine! #WearWhite http://t.co/KBHhTgwLevmatthew</div><div>Largest PAP congregation? Nope! #FamFest #WearWhite http://t.co/LEu00ATMb5Bjorn</div><div>"God created men and women to be together. Dont support LGBT. #wearwhite". To the ASSHOLE who tweeted this, we're all human. Show sm respectillhueminati †</div><div>Though I have homosexual friends, many of which are dear to me. Ill always be an advocate of family first #wearwhite http://t.co/yu1r74Qoj8Ryan Wolf Chong </div>
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