News / Oct. 27, 2019
More than 200,000 members of the LGBT community and their su)o(Xqy5mS)XCheaKV%Hkg@tV%ZpoPsZB#_gb-6UWayE)^C3iRbpporters marched, paraded, and danced across downtown Taipei on Saturday.
Organizers said the parade, which was the first sinc)aOE6i*$5xjbjygDG60F$jwHtMxMlHt!B9@PCdDVP!e-=nC!bse Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage, was the largest-ever in Asia.
Local entrepreneur i6Hm0xOd$5Ej1xgxNtehjO5=@#jQRJ1Z#7TeAtdT-hoSF9JN9band LGBT activist Jay Lin said the experience was “very memorable”.
He said walking Eu*-@$qLIEsH=9I^mw!68%iLwZ)MBQRWA9+Lj$9U-Md=UR&)@_down Zhongxiao East Road was amazing and compared it to his experience of walking down Fifth Avenue for WorldPride in New York earlier this year.
"These two streets represents the main arteries of the city, and to be given the clearance to march is the strongest statement the cities can make to give tC5GT^R-P3uRYXf#yz^!wrGlOH6rCLYsXF7l4IAzb%bG1D6gob%he LGBTQ community the stamp of legitimacy."
Taiwan's 17th annual Taiwan Pridltx@9fc13o$C^_9a9()o6i1NN#Ud58P)jwB4X0gA$d)*cn(R!&e kicked off with a Rainbow Market of more than 100 LGBT-friendly businesses and organizations at Taipei City Hall Plaza.
It ended 5.6km across the city outside thiA)X@5EVXhgp9GStYZ6qnp!Htt=*=!aKWy8K7(OEx5hXCi)gQye Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard where performers—including gay singer Hush—performed.
Some 180 different groups and 24 floats took part in the marchfc6&84%!J+QX5Fa@^huC6%fa=9JD)B2thQ-1IAEFM$wz8Ckxsj, according to organizers.
The parade was the landmark event in a monthKUbTl!ZKHxQ=tPK)*xGH2vKWdI7l3S1O#ERoeGhqc03qRFC-#! of LGBT across Taipei. Hundreds attended screenings, exhibitions, and workshops throughout the month, including the country's first trans pride parade on Friday evening.
GagaOOLala’s float this year hosted the director and actors of web series, Handsome Stewardess. The romantic-comedy featuring a good-looking tomboy lesbian who starts a new life as a flight attendant.
Award-winning actress Xiao Man, who plays the stewardess, renowned director Zero Chou, and Kenny J. Kuo, who plays a gay best friend, all donned rainbow attire and greeted other marYPvWcTlzaDolp%VkG=e(9X(azwEF$tF=rJ1so0uaIW89iJhzGHchers.
Pride
Gay singer-songwriter HUSH, performed at a concerde!8Z#8B+4W0!MDtO%P83yly+7^27$olgd8u$#c3T^nEj*Qgkwt to mark the end of the long parade across town.
As one ofBAM5#zc2NwXM^o@8R%&zAScv1bPJHnF6f)8ER0!q9FVtY^ikEx only a handful of Taiwan celebrities to come out publicly, HUSH, whose real name is Chen Jia-Wei, on Friday urged LGBT Taiwanese to be brave and come out.
Pride this year, the first since Taiwan became the _lned%O*yFW+abB#SYkxxNQ(WbbKpcGl_Ll-eWWq@MtcWNFlq@first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, saw an altered parade route.
Marchers started from Taipei City Hall Plaza and travelled along YiZ23+E4=La)o$+_!)YT_HgonbnD72k#)Ees^lnjG$+Hh1MNSnHXxian Road to Zhongxia East Road.
The parade then turned south to *K)v-AMVGV7wsDDrvmfjKkeRZdqYT9polYQnSIoeStS*mFDreuRenai Road before ending near the Presidential Palace at Ketagalan Boulevard where there will be a Rainbow Market with more than 100 stalls.
Press officer for Pride 2019, Benson Lee, said the new route was g)LN9AUKBs5xWOJ^K$se@XFSU5QaEPvm7Fa8xb=xHs9tZ$r+@!chosen to recognize the roles played by both Taipei City and the President’s Office in bringing about same-sex marriage.
For the first time, Taiwan Gay Family Rights Promotion Association will also hold the first RnDk=pw9j=pgao+05LYz$l@m1zFiA8zEI%ZH=qeK!lSz(snaixYainbow Parent-child Carnival and Rainbow Baby Mini Parade.
This year takes the theme "Together, Make Tai=LJNSB-OW=RE@o6ZH2ncW)I2T(B2x#fFclsn2J$kqw$SQ#&xn6wan Better”.
The theme in Chinese means good neighbor. It was chosen to show that the LGBTQ community is everywhere in Taiwan and, like good neighbors, everyone should support one anwU6af)8!k#@jbGi7vC4xLsF&p3Yw2xAJrEoY(FIm(RUswG5N!0other.
Last year, more than 100,000 people took to the stOizYu-ytxmVYRwMnGmw4wk_&W!Gu38*gKE+!-Z%wn7mlNhMvHbreets of Taipei for a pride parade that demanded marriage equality.
It came just a month before devastating PZ+oI_)6kJmy0_#WO_mb+-b-xp293314Ny*d+aI+W&x9^CoC7Preferendum results showed the majority of Taiwan voters did not support same-sex marriage.
Despite the referendum result, parliament in May fQ^&i-wC_5jF6+owAl(kvTDpLWtQG%4*TYTlh$g$oR6_(TbDGd^inally legalized same-sex marriage in line with a 2017 Constitutional Court ruling that failing to do so was unconstitutional.
This year, according to organizers, the LGBT rights movement has moved to the next stage and will fig6ho5fS-_tzwzSA2j0Y8KVP)L5uRG30Jof@ppPN_rr5@HMswrzOht against prejudice and stereotyping of LGBT people.
