Thousands of people yesterday took to Taipei’s streets to support the 14th annual Taiwan lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Pride Parade.
Braving rainy weather, the crowd congregated on Ketagalan Boulevard before standard bearers joined the crowd with a large rainbow banner to lead the parade.
Participants in ordinary clothing brushed shoulders with those dressed up in outlandish costumes and radiant colors. Some portrayed anime characters while others dressed up as princesses.
Photo: CNA
Promenaders ambled along Renai and Xinyi roads, covering the areas between Zhongshan S and Xinsheng S roads, before heading in opposite directions on Xinsheng S Road and returning to the stage.
The themes of this year’s parade were “Fun together” and “Honor diversity, like you mean it,” meaning that the goal is to break through “fake friendliness,” or gestures that are actually discriminatory toward people of differing sexual orientations, including lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people, intersexuals, queers and asexuals.
Event organizers called on legislators across party lines to pass a proposed amendment to the Civil Code to legalize same-sex marriage and urged participants to assist by making telephone calls to legislators in their constituencies who have not signed petitions to endorse the proposed amendment.
Photo: CNA
An American who identified himself as Prent said he came from Taichung to support the event.
Prent said he heard about Taiwan’s reputation as a gay-friendly nation while working in China and decided to move to Taiwan.
“It would be amazing if the legislature passes the amendment to become the first Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage, as it would likely inspire other Asian nations to follow suit and put Taiwan on par with Western democracies that have already done so,” he said.
Photo: EPA
Shu Kuge and Jared Braiterman, a gay couple living in Tokyo, said they came to Taipei just for the parade.
A number of Japanese attended yesterday’s parade, Kuge said, adding the Taiwan LGBT Pride Parade is the biggest event of its kind in Asia and is well-known in Japan.
Kuge said the Taiwanese government seems more supportive of same-sex marriage than the Japanese government, so it would be “exciting” if bills regarding same-sex marriage are passed, as it would likely set an example for Japan.
Photo: CNA
While foreigners praised the nation’s friendliness toward homosexual people, a number of Taiwanese who attended the parade declined to be interviewed or reveal their first names.
A Taiwanese surnamed Wu (吳) said he had not made public that he is gay, because he believed Asians, especially older people, tend to be more conservative and unwelcoming to homosexuality.
A promenader who identified himself as Da Mao (大毛) said he would like to be married to his partner someday, but that he is worried that his parents and older relatives might not approve.
He said that society has come a long way in terms of friendliness toward homosexual people and he has not had to deal with discriminatory labels that were attached to him when he was younger.
However, some people still do not accept gay people, particularly those involved in intimate relationships, which means there is still room for improvement before society can truly bring down the barriers between people of different sexual orientations, he said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS