It is Pride Week and Pink Dot Singapore will happen for 12th time this year in 2020. While a physical event will not happen this year due to the COVID-19, the LGBTQ movement will proceed digitally and we can still participate in the celebration over live stream.

From Josef Ng’s performance art protest against police entrapments of cruisers in the 90s to the Nation parties and IndigNation events of the 2000s, the strive towards LGBTQ visibility in Singapore really culminated in 2009 when Pink Dot SG was first held. Despite multiple challenges mounted by the conservative segment of the population over the next 11 years, Pink Dot continues to grow from strength to strength. It is now widely considered as the Pride parade of Singapore.

Numerous articles have been written about the Stonewall Riots by Astrological scholars but none has been written about Singapore’s own Pride movement. Naturally, as a working Singaporean astrologer belonging to the LGBTQ community, I am curious: What can Astrology say about the Pink Dot movement of Singapore?

Natal Chart of Pink Dot Singapore

The first Pink Dot happened on 16th May 2009, 4.30pm at Hong Lim Park, Singapore. Because this is the first time Pink Dot happened, we can use this date, time and location to cast a chart and use that as Pink Dot‘s official natal chart since it is the ‘birth’ of Pink Dot Singapore Movement.

(Slight disclaimer: I am deeply aware that Pink Dot is, strictly speaking, not the first nor only public LGBTQ awareness movement in Singapore. So the following analysis isn’t meant to be about the LBGBTQ awareness movement of Singapore but just Pink Dot Singapore itself.)

The following elements in the chart would be what I’m focusing on for this essay:

1. Unaspected planets (Planets that doesn’t quite connect with the rest of the chart)
2. Taurus Sun in the 8th House
3. Conjunction (meaning ‘together’) of Mars and Venus in Aries.
4. Aquarius Stellium (or ‘cluster’) in the 5th House.

Unaspected Planets

Unaspected planets are planets that don’t connect to the rest of the chart. They do exist and function in the chart but integration is difficult so they can present themselves as ‘wild’ and ‘rogue’. In some extreme instances, unaspected planets can come off as excessive and overcompensatory.

In the case of Pink Dot, Saturn and Pluto are both unaspected.

Saturn in Virgo in 12th House

12th House is the background. Planets in the 12th House are typically hidden from view. Though we can get a sense of them, they are not immediately obvious to us. Having Saturn, the energy of effort and hardwork in this position, I can make the assessment that there is a lot of unseen toil and labour in the background that allowed Pink Dot to happen. 12th House is also about what society leaves behind, so it is particularly poetic that Pink Dot is about working hard for those who are unseen and left behind by society.

I also relate any planets in Virgo 12th house to be sort of like an ‘army of worker ants in the background’. With Saturn in Virgo in the 12th House ruling 4th House (which is sort of like the ‘base of foundation’ of the chart), we can also say that the bedrock which Pink Dot is built upon is the hard work of its behind-the-scene volunteers.

Saturn also corresponds to the abiding of rules and regulations. Having Saturn in the 12th House can suggest a lack of observance to existing order of rules and structure.

I would argue, however, that due to the unaspected nature of Saturn in the chart, the adherence to structure and order is doubly-emphasized. This is easily seen in how willing the Pink Dot movement is willing to emphasize and play by the rules and curveballs thrown by the regulations body: eg. no foreign sponsorships, no foreigners allowed, installments of barricades, ID and bag checks.

Pluto in Capricorn in 3rd House

Pluto refers to obsession, fixation but also power. Where it is in the chart indicates the area of life we give our power to and where our unconscious power lies.

In the 3rd House, the power of Pink Dot is in its message. In the sign of Capricorn, I would make the assessment that there are obsession and fixation to keeping the message traditional and socially acceptable and due to the unaspected nature of Pluto, doubly-so.

This is something we really see so much of in the way Pink Dot is marketed. They use slogans like ‘Let’s Stand Together’, ‘Building Bridges’, ‘For Family, For Friends, For Love’. If you have attended Pink Dot, you would also have noticed that annually, without fail, the crowd would be rallied to sing the National Anthem. All these falls in line with the Capricornian motivation of being recognized and legitimate.

Taurus Sun in the 8th House

This perhaps surprises me the most. Pink Dot is a Taurus!

8th House, I get. But Taurus? Get out!

The Sun Sign is perhaps the most salient body in an Astrological chart. It represents our essence of being, who we fundamentally are about, and our core identity.

I’m surprised that Pink Dot is a Taurus because Tauruses aren’t known to rock the boat. The primary motivation of Taurus is to enjoy life as it is, to stay, remain, be present, steady and stable. It doesn’t care about challenging norms whatsoever, it cares about stability. We can, therefore, say that as a movement, Pink Dot (at least it’s fundamental purpose and being) isn’t really revolutionary or whatsoever. It simply wants to exist and be.

8th House is the house of Crisis and Transformation. Having the Sun in the 8th House can suggest that the existence of Pink Dot is in constant crisis and that it struggles with both being seen and not seen (think about how it is both about legitimizing LGBTQ existence but also faces challenges from those undermining its existence). In any case, as a stubborn Taurus, we can expect the Pink Dot movement to continue in the long run as it digs into the ground and refuses to budge.

Conjunction of Mars and Venus in Aries

This has got to be my favourite part of the analysis.

Libra Ascendant

The Ascendant is the mask and image we wear and is how we present ourselves in the world, how we want to be seen. I thought it’s quite a no-brainer when I saw that Pink Dot has a Libra Ascendant: it wants to be loved and liked. It wants to cooperate and present itself as “all about love” (a Libran ideal). The signature pink look is very ‘Libra’ as well, especially if you think about why pink was chosen as the colour of the movement:

“Pink… because it is the colour often associated with LGBT… but more importantly, it is the colour of our national identity cards and it is what you get when you mix the colours of our national flag.”

FAQ answer to the question: “What is Pink Dot SG?” on Pink Dot SG website.

The energy of Libra is blending and harmonising. It is motivated to moderate and be appropriate… at least from the looks of it. When we take into account the Ascendant ruler, it’s a different story.

Ruler of Ascendant: Venus in Aries

If the Ascendant gives us a sense of how the native of the chart presents themselves into the world, the ruler of the Ascendant gives us more information about how it is done. As the chart ruler, it also gives an overview of what the chart is about.

Since the ruler of Libra is Venus, we will look for Venus in the chart. In the case of the chart, the close proximity between Venus and Mars means that we cannot ignore Mars’ influence in the analysis as well.

If Pink Dot with the Libra Ascendant wants to be liked, its ruler of Venus in Aries suggests a pushy, aggressive and demanding nature. Venus is the feminine and receptive energy in our charts and its function is to relate, appeal and attract. We can make the assessment that despite its “all about love” image, there are aggressiveness and forcefulness in the way Pink Dot appeals to others. In some way, it is loud and demands to be liked.

While being next to Mars (and specifically Mars in Aries) emphasizes on the forcefulness and pushiness of Venus in Aries, this whole combination near the 7th House cusp gives it an ‘other-centric’ quality.

Conjunction in the sign of Aries on the 7th House Cusp

When I see someone with Libra Ascendant and Venus on the 7th House cusp, I’d advise him/her to learn to like and love themselves instead of trying to get other people to like them. The 7th House cusp is a lot of things: partners, contracts, other people we are in one-to-one relationship with and even the public. Basically, the 7th House cusp represents the ‘Other’- that which is not ‘I’. With a placement like this, Pink Dot as a movement needs love and support from the public and other people.

The cool thing about this combination is also in its Mars placement. Mars is in the sign of Aries and it represents aggression and conflict. It also rules the 7th House in this instance so the closeness of Venus to the 7th House cusp means that Mars has dominion over her. This, once again, highlight the other-centric quality of Pink Dot SG‘s chart.

In addition, Mars in Aries is really open, direct and straight. That’s right, this combination has something to do with straight people.

Mars in Aries as both ‘open enemies’ and straight allies.

Like I mentioned just now, the 7th House cusp represents a lot of things. While it represents partners, it also talks about one’s ‘open enemies’.

Broadly speaking, with Mars sitting on the 7th House cusp, we can expect conflict coming from other people, especially the adversaries and antagonisers. Because Mars in Aries is such an open, confrontational and warlike energy, we can correlate this to the challenges mounted by the ‘Wear White’ Campaigns launched by the conservative faction in Singapore. While a physical war wasn’t waged, the ‘Wear White’ Campaigns were open in their opposition to the Pink Dot movement. In this case, the ‘open enemies’ of Pink Dot‘s chart simplistically refers to opposition from straight people.

On the other hand, if the 7th House cusp refers to ‘marriage’ and ‘partners’, Mars in Aries in this position can also refer to Pink Dot‘s straight allies and ambassadors. Since Mars (which is both in 7th House and rules 7th House) has dominion over Venus, we can say that a lot of Pink Dot‘s appeal is really dependent on the open representation and support from the straight counterparts. We can easily see this from the high number of straight ambassadors from the list of ambassadors on Pink Dot SG website.

Aquarius Stellium in the 5th House

The last set of standouts I want to talk about in Pink Dot’s chart is the obvious stellium of planets in Aquarius in the 5th House.

This surprises me the least. Pink Dot as an LGBT, liberal and left-wing movement is really at home in the collective-minded sign of Aquarius. The primary motivation of the Aquarius archetype is ‘collective freedom’ and it cares about challenging and disrupting established norms that exclude certain groups of people so that no one is more or less than another. It’s a really egalitarian archetype.

The 5th House is concerned with one’s creativity, romance, and self-expression. Having the slew of Aquarius planets in there suggest that a large part of what Pink Dot is about is the freedom to express one’s individuality and romantic expression. This is aptly encapsulated in its maxim year after year: “Supporting the freedom to love”.

In Conclusion… Some thoughts

This article sprung from a deep desire to be involved and be a part of honoring and celebrating Pride month. It is not, in any way, written to promote or criticize Pink Dot Singapore, even though my personal politics lies in the former.

As an Astrologer, I see everything around me through the lens and language of Astrology and this is my attempt at connecting and making sense of what I know to what’s out there.

Are there limitations to this analysis? Of course there are. For starters, every astrologer comes into a chart reading with their personal set of biases and philosophies. The chart may be the same, but give this chart to a different astrologer and you’d yield a different reading because that astrologer picks a different set of cues and elements to focus on.

Furthermore, this analysis isn’t meant to be an extensive reading. It is possible to go even deeper with a chart like this and I am really just skimming the surface.

In any case, I hope all of you have a lovely day and week ahead. I will be staying tuned to this year’s live stream of Pink Dot Singapore as well so I’d ‘see’ you there. If what I’ve written interests you and you’d like to book a consultation you can drop me an email and I’d get back to you.

Happy Pride Weekend! 🏳️‍🌈