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Article published In:
Pink Dot: Discursive Formations, Constructions, and Contestations
Edited by Adi Saleem Bharat, Pavan Mano and Robert Phillips
[Journal of Language and Sexuality 10:2] 2021
► pp. 105–128

For family, for friends, for (true) love

Negotiating discourses of love within the LGBTQ community in Singapore

ORCID logo | National University of Singapore , Singapore | King’s College London , UK
ORCID logo | National University of Singapore , Singapore

We examine promotional materials produced by two organisations in Singapore, TrueLove.Is and Pink Dot, to investigate how these two groups employ discourses of love to support their opposing views regarding the reconcilability of Christianity and same-sex desire. TrueLove.Is is a Christian ministry that encourages LGB Christian Singaporeans to “come out, come home”, while Pink Dot is Singapore’s largest and foremost LGBTQ movement. We identify similarities and differences in their persuasive discourse strategies regarding ideas of love as discussed by lesbian Christian pastors. Although they position the idea of love similarly, their agendas are completely polarised. TrueLove.Is takes the position that non-heteronormative activity is ungodly and sinful, while Pink Dot offers a reconciliation between Christianity and same-sex desire. We employ Peterson’s (2016) approach to homophobic discourse analysis based on Systemic Functional Linguistics and a comparative discourse analysis to investigate the ideologies that inform the two organisations’ materials about the treatment of LGBTQ Singaporeans.

Keywords: Singapore, Christianity, TrueLove.Is, Pink Dot, Systemic Functional Linguistics, homophobia, discourse analysis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Public discourses of same-sex desire in Singapore: TrueLove.Is and Pink Dot
  • 2.Theoretical background
    • 2.1From Pink Dot with love
    • 2.2TrueLove.Is: Contemporary interactions between Christianity and same-sex desire
  • 3.Data and methodology
    • 3.1Christianity in the promotional materials of TrueLove.Is and Pink Dot
  • 4.Data analysis
    • 4.1SFL-assisted discourse analysis
      • 4.1.1Parataxis in Tryphena’s Story
      • 4.1.2Hypotaxis in Tryphena’s Story
      • 4.1.3Parataxis in Our Heroes – Joan & Pauline
      • 4.1.4Hypotaxis and embedded parataxis in Our Heroes – Joan & Pauline
    • 4.2Comparing discourses of love in TrueLove.Is and Pink Dot
      • 4.2.1(Ir)reconcilability of sexual and religious identity
      • 4.2.2Conditionality of solidarity and acceptance
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion: Towards a contingent sexual politics
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 16 July 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.20009.hir
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