News / Oct. 27, 2019
More than 200,000 members of the LGBT community and their supporters marched, paraded, and danced across downtown C(Oxv81XDU7aaCv_EnIHeFze*Z6BQDLrNFZS=ag7T$Vx8rD_q!Taipei on Saturday.
Organizers said the parade, which was the fi[email protected][email protected][email protected]%#_KOsZ&^rst since Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage, was the largest-ever in Asia.
Local entrepreneur and LGBT activist Jay Lin said thc_80Ko7YBK15go+vp)6Nw%I5+5+Qv9(RJB!Mq1*BB%x2&GYf)&e experience was “very memorable”.
He said walking down ZhdC=_iQwurMMIAIjyr7e8Nti*[email protected]@jez#Y^QS3Asbem0Qdongxiao East Road was amazing and compared it to his experience of walking down Fifth Avenue for WorldPride in New York earlier this year.
"These two streets represents the main arteries of the city, and to be given the clearance to march is the strongest statement th3=Y1Lx-eXZa&p)%Tl6L^z+&7AUu#[email protected]_EABYhe cities can make to give the LGBTQ community the stamp of legitimacy."
Taiwan's 17th annual Taiwan Pride kicked off with a Rainbow Market of more than 100 LGBT-friendly businesses and organizaKI8CKD6Gd([email protected]$nMaWC!!ZhT_SYXhXNO#[email protected])1utions at Taipei City Hall Plaza.
It ended 5.6km across the city outside the Presidential Office on Ketagalan BoulNPy(bvApUZNG+ezj&p&4vMzyXFNI2yI!H^x0Px1s1fwm4!S40Yevard where performers—including gay singer Hush—performed.
Some 180 different groups and 24 floats took part in the march, according to organizeCftd+P9XXfs4=RqSNmtKU9v-1fVK-9QAnWuRE&o=k^[email protected]rs.
The parade was the landmark event in a month of LGBT across Taipei. Hundreds attended screenings, exhibitions, and workshops throughout the month, i[email protected]@=z&nm*ncluding 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[email protected]+=%56t(z%PC1keFlTZOIZqs6$Wq director Zero Chou, and Kenny J. Kuo, who plays a gay best friend, all donned rainbow attire and greeted other marchers.
Pride
Gay singer-songwriter HUSH, performed at a concert to maXU_ImSD5([email protected](0Sx1y1^*BMBU+Rnz+%Hb#-rk the end of the long parade across town.
g0GAdPL^ovH*)N)hcxSP1B=$XItk(z5SfR2H)a^DsW$v^Kl#)*As one of only a handful of Taiwan celebrities to come out publicly, HUSH, whose real name is Chen Jia-Wei, on Friday urged LGBT Taiwanese to be brave and come out.
Pride this year, the first since Taiwan became the first countrWb6(s5!P=I8#N%)MTg048%pfPwB#[email protected]*4V!IrkSN(qy in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, saw an altered parade route.
Marchers started from Taipei City H6A#uf_3$zH$Xb&HTtx5PePJHOa5RhK8ijbjjTN(domJ2Yt4+%Sall Plaza and travelled along Yixian Road to Zhongxia East Road.
The parade then turned south to Renai Road before ending near the Presidential Palace at Ketagalan(%wXpu%WHeUky!N7ztrdQN)skR5*[email protected]&cc4V+$h+S^#V Boulevard where there will be a Rainbow Market with more than 100 stalls.
Press officer for[email protected]@ATr4!VI(eLl%hC%QY0PcU$TbF9=etOZztKJ Pride 2019, Benson Lee, said the new route was chosen to recognize the roles played by both Taipei City and the President’s Office in bringing about same-sex marriage.
For the first time, Taiwan Gay Family Rights Promotion Association will also hold thJgApike4G-9Z5-5Djxkt+-VQR+l7y-tg6gX_vdvA%JAycmj%$ze first Rainbow Parent-child Carnival and Rainbow Baby Mini Parade.
This year takes the theme "Together, Make Taiwan B^-hh_Zf%g5xGlYELm)_lm7eC6Bd4HAOT9Gi-NGgWY(5-8tiPy#etter”.
The theme in Chinese means good neighbor. It was chosen to show that@V&$$hO=UsgSBH-=E^pPtL50w*f#[email protected] the LGBTQ community is everywhere in Taiwan and, like good neighbors, everyone should support one another.
Last year, more than 100,000 people took to the streets of Taipei for a pride parade that demanded marriage e*qQETH!jG#TxOBpKfyJ&h9Y([email protected]%XkMcj7(==q=-quality.
It came just a month before devb($WX&(JBQbyWwX6TQ6l9HQIry+Bprwrkx=b&3K(fW9NUH!r-zastating referendum results showed the majority of Taiwan voters did not support same-sex marriage.
Despite the referendum result, parliament in May finally legalized same-sex marriage in line with a 2017 Constitutional Court ruling that failing to do so was unconstitutiona42Un*[email protected]!RVLl1j6hv_IXnO-OVGXTj1A!Hy#h#nl.
This year, according to organizers, the LGBT rights movement has moved to the next stage and will fight against prejudice and stereotypinP#xu$Q=_vNRex2Jrq8%HYgs)eht&VDsOXOAP!)5*BarUojb(&ug of LGBT people.
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