Pink Dot has just made it past its ninth year and it was not exactly business as usual.

Initially, having gone through several iterations of the same-old, the event felt like it might have run its course by 2017 and tired out its narrative.

But then a slew of changes were made to the law and Pink Dot had to deal with them.

For the first time, barricades were erected to keep out non-locals and foreign sponsors were barred from contributing.

In the end, because of the changes, the movement was rejuvenated.

Some 20,000 Singaporeans and permanent residents showed up, laying to rest any concern that Pink Dot can still be inclusive when it was outright exclusive, given the new restrictions.

So, here are some of the people that made Pink Dot at Hong Lim Park on July 1, 2017 what it was:

1. The organisers and volunteers

From having to manage the public relations crisis (read: Cathy Cineleisure Pink Dot ad) to making sure the event ran smoothly, the organisers and some 500 volunteers made the event possible.

2. The participants

Because every inch of the 0.94 hectares of Hong Lim Park was filled by 6.30pm, the organisers had to stop letting people into the park.

The participants also include the 120 local sponsors who helped Pink Dot raised the much-needed S$235,000.

3. The participants not at Hong Lim Park

Or more accurately, those who were not allowed to be there, but still supported the event, nonetheless.

According to Rob Collins, owner of Dorothy’s Bar where more than 400 foreigners and their local friends gathered throughout the evening to watch the live stream of the event: “Half the crowd cried when the participants at Hong Lim Park gathered to make the dot.”

The bar even provided wet towels and cologne for those who came after standing under the hot sun for hours in Hong Lim Park.

Singaporeans also booked rooms in Park Royal Hotel that overlooks Hong Lim Park to take part in Pink Dot with their foreign friends who were not allowed into Speakers' Corner.

4. Parents who brought their kids to Pink Dot

“I want to encourage the ideology (of the freedom to love) in the next generation," Ashley O’Reiley (pictured above), a permanent resident, on why she decided to bring her five- and two-year- old to Pink Dot.

5. The security personnel

Though they were not decked out in pink, they worked tirelessly on a Saturday, under the unforgiving sun, to make sure that everyone at Pink Dot was safe.

Theirs was a thankless job because many, who had to queue to enter the park, felt that the security checks were troublesome.

However, as Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said: “Any large public gathering (like Pink Dot), with high profile, will be an attractive target (to terrorists).”

6. Lastly, those who soldier on after Pink Dot

Some, like Oogachaga, were at the Community Tent at Pink Dot.

Support groups help the vulnerable and these include LGBT groups from the different universities and The Kopitiam Brothers -- a support group for trans men started by Deveshwar Sham and his wife, Patricia Joseph, who also run a shelter for homeless trans men using their own savings.

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Top photo by Yoshitake Matsuzaki