Love wins for Singapore gays

Hundreds of people wearing pink attended Singapore's annual "Pink Dot" LGBTQ rally on Saturday, the first to be held since the city-state decriminalized gay sex last year.

Brandishing rainbow flags and sporting glittery makeup, people gathered in a downtown park - the only place in Singapore where protests are allowed without a police permit. I'm celebrating today because it's been a really long fight," said Ernest Seah, a gay 58-year-old artist and teacher. "And you know, it's great that love wins and the government understands that."

Singapore's parliament last year repealed a British colonial-era law that penalized sex between men with up to two years in jail, although the statute was not actively enforced.

Describing the mood as one of "celebration and joyousness", Pink Dot's spokesperson Clement Tan said it was a relief to hold the rally with the law no longer on the books.