For his part, Phuong had long avoided showing affection to his partner in public for fear of prosecution. Though Section 377A has not been enforced since 2007, its chilling effects have reverberated across society. Phuong Nham, a Vietnamese gay man who moved to the Southeast Asian city-state about 13 years ago, tells TIME that every Pink Dot event he has attended since 2016 has been filled with explicit calls for the repeal of Section 377A, the law which critics say has long formed the basis for a host of discriminatory policies against the LGBT community. Its aim was primarily to provide a safe space for LGBT individuals to come together in Singapore. The first Pink Dot in 2009 wasn’t overtly political. “Pink Dot opened an avenue for people like us to gather and show people who we are and express ourselves.” Shifting focus Joshuani, who has been attending Pink Dot for about seven years, says his annual visit to Pink Dot is always an emotional experience. Advocates tell TIME that while the repeal has brought welcome recognition to the LGBT community in recent months, queer people continue to face discrimination in various aspects of their lives, from employment to housing and the rights to starting their own families. But this year’s Pink Dot carried extra significance, marking the first time that it’s been held after the government’s landmark repeal of Section 377A of the penal code, a colonial-era law that criminalized consensual sex between two men. Since its start in 2009, Pink Dot has always been a mix of celebration and expressions of solidarity as well as protest against ongoing discrimination and prejudice.

Like previous years, the air was filled with a subtle sense of rebellion as thousands congregated at Hong Lim Park-the only legal protest site in the country of 5.7 million-to support LGBT rights in the conservative city-state, notorious for its crackdowns on political dissent, which has historically also included sanctions against the queer community. A two-acre green space in downtown Singapore was awash in a sea of pink on Saturday, as massive crowds gathered for Pink Dot, Singapore’s annual pride celebration.

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