Hundreds YL24gF!CDn9WI)t9UgqEQ+0awMk254Ba0-v3n6*0Xh=qHBVOi3of the region’s LGBT movers and shakers will kick off Taiwan’s massive pride weekend at a unique party in downtown Taipei.

The GALA BFF GALA event on 25 October at Xinyi Woolloomooloo is the perfect warm-up for Asia’s largest pride parade, expected to attract 200,XrW_qk1HursxC5LDY4BSDH&I31lS42q-zPEWWCqdF_C$wJOhwn000 marchers. 

The party will include screenings of the latest original productions from LGBT-streaming service GagaOOLala and special guests from Japan RainbU189Tgic=T7=-Qi!Ww1_qqfb%ISy%HGAFn2OpYZXwDf2%VC&xmow Night Out. 

"I can promise you lotsRgXR)w+_#Jc%bLgMFO4H1T1NDvgaNfm%h89w7Oviuz8q!vn=J- of fun, laughter, friendship, and, of course, in this month of Celebration & Pride” said co-creator of the GALA BFF group of LGBT professionals, Jay Lin.

GALA BFF creates a plac1FNuQ)7o@&Olilq(XPw$i%)*u2F^n!B++HfYR_G*XU@$zV(_RGe for socializing and connecting for the region’s LGBT people off the dance floor. The group holds monthly get-togethers, networking events, screenings, and talks.

"I am proud to say that indeed after six years, the group iadn8eo=*qpGI5vZ77_+L#0NAu0n@ClEr7$=Ai4tIIyr+V4)!Chs over a thousand strong and increasingly internationalized with connections that are formed online as well as off-line” Lin said.

Tickets are $600 if purchased before 20 October and $750 after. Buy tickets or find out more here.

Pride

Organizers of the 17th annual Taiwan LGBT Pride parade expect more thaR@_WH!NNA8qxsdu*tOo(Zu)PK#x^dq$IZH)gty%9jlOxIq&n7jn 200,000—a record number—at the pride parade scheduled to take place on 26 October.

The pride will be held just five months after Taiwan became the first country in Asia to 9P0K!S6%Ug@pWy%VZ^@46Kat_gnj3-_D=g0D2TMXT_5plR93Xsrecognize same-sex marriages.

Gay singer-songwriter HUSH will be an ambassado42)Gy&)B3l(ZAIXKv)pG5MFx-WbbWw3lG*Y$CXmQQY1z3dXSq=r for the landmark event.

As one of only a handful of Taiwan celebrities to come out publicly, HUSH, whose real name is Chen Jia-Wei, on Friday urged LGBckBAlLC2Vk@Wx-tdd=E^i&EFqP%VBYcfN#Ru#+Z%$!n2fQc9DXT Taiwanese to be brave and come out.

Pride this year, the first s+p*ufC2TQrJS-uDr50@48iNOu=V8ETg!HEhoB^ibT9=mmbT!m!ince Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, sees an altered parade route.

Marchers will start from Taipei City Hall PpF*OF@Y424&E=Hes0XXW7IHWM%U-4MakWA0)2+^yI2a$4nJ4c6laza and travel along Yixian Road to Zhongxia East Road.

The parade will then BSjvLOuWU$b_hf2vY6awx%O%OW7qgmlLYaMFM3HxITK+a2H)XSturn south to Renai Road before ending near the Presidential Palace at Ketagalan Boulevard where there will be a Rainbow Market with more than 100 stalls.

HUSH will also perform at Ketagalan Boulevard.

Press officerR((4@uXqZ1&wwSyZEsOGs5DfdB_4_QdDLepp!aZ&G_&1o+VmI# for 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 tOCQ*%czKskj-r&Y!R#=2h)7B=D-UM5B8L0U2ySWDfrbzUi+%SDime, Taiwan Gay Family Rights Promotion Association will also hold the first Rainbow Parent-child Carnival and Rainbow Baby Mini Parade.

This year takes the theme "TogenOFSK_OYE!5MQFxr9RnkEMey8zRB(IHCJsF-Y!r$5AUiOlP_oither, Make Taiwan 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, eqolm*aLn2YrKUF^Y+r73G_-hDl2my6k-LpISXLWNdk$Xup0D)mveryone should support one another.

Las_XKFt-ftgCoIq+LM+yb8CLohA%-9zC(xb^_bd7Mi0-WlhvIg5(t year, more than 100,000 people took to the streets of Taipei for a pride parade that demanded marriage equality.

It came just a month before devastating referendum results showed the majority of TaiwanLArFVMvh5ZDJFoDq)Df8QsDWmhvTe80Wa-Y(-H07vC!5JtRWFk voters did not support same-sex marriage.

Despite the referendum re=T)ZWXPJ^7Gphlv-sm+jE#-K2-^@B57ux*CACD^pA2DNs=Vixtsult, parliament in May finally legalized same-sex marriage in line with a 2017 Constitutional Court ruling that failing to do so was unconstitutional.

Th&bgvADpE8TN%0AFJ$GqASbq4=ZX%$3kpqipRH$*DQG7_*r%Xa*is year, according to organizers, the LGBT rights movement has moved to the next stage and will fight against prejudice and stereotyping of LGBT people.

Yi-min lives alone with her son, as her husband works away from home. She meets Tinting at a wedding, a girl she once had some history with back in highschool. Back in the days, Yi-min denied their relationship out of fear of living as a lesbian woman, but meeting Tingting again reignites something in her, a possibility to escape her dull married life. Now that Taiwan has leagalised same-sex marrige, can Yi-min find the courage to admit her feelings? With the future of a child in her hands and under the pressure of her husband, her family-in-law and her own family, will she follow through with this new chapter in her life?