More than 20,000 Singaporeans came to Pink Dot, the city's annual LGBTQ festival this year, according to organisers. There were so many people who tried to join the event — which sported a rainbow theme this year — that the park where it was held had to be closed at 7 p.m. for capacity. That's no small feat considering the number of roadblocks the nine-year-old festival has encountered this year.
After the pride event's last edition in 2016, the city's government barred foreign sponsors and foreigners from taking part in the event, and ordered organisers to set up barricades around the 2.32 acre park in response to changes in rules regulating demonstrations in the city.
The result was increased costs for Pink Dot's organisers.
"To make organisers barricade Hong Lim Park to ensure that foreigners are not there, so that they don’t influence domestic issues, we think is overreaching," Paerin Choa, a spokesperson for Pink Dot, told media at a press conference. Read more via Mashable