More than 60,000 people yesterday participated in the 11th Kaohsiung Pride parade — the largest crowd in its history — which was held under the theme of “We! Around You!”
The parade began at about 2pm in front of Dayi Park and proceeded along Dacheng Street and Wufu 3rd Road, across the Love River (愛河), before making a loop back to the starting point.
The Kaohsiung government also showed its support by raising rainbow flags at its Siwei and Fongshan offices.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) posted a photo on Facebook of a city initiative to paint a pavement at the Pier-2 Art Center in rainbow colors and said that “love and tolerance is one of the most beautiful things about Taiwan.”
The 4km parade was followed by performances of artists, and speeches by organizers and LGBT rights advocates.
One of the speakers, Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan chief coordinator Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔), said that the legalization of same-sex marriages was only a start, as other issues that affect the LGBT community remain unresolved.
For example, same-sex couples still face more restrictions in adoption than their heterosexual counterparts, she said.
Although same-sex marriage was in May last year legalized by the Act for Implementation of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748 (司法院釋字第七四八號解釋施行法), married same-sex couples are not allowed to adopt children with whom they do not have a blood relationship.
However, she thanked Kaohsiung City councilors for supporting the issue and arranging for the pavement to be painted in rainbow colors.
Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights secretary-
general Chien Chih-chieh (簡至潔) pushed the group’s call for the recognition of same-sex marriages between Taiwanese and foreigners regardless of whether their home country recognizing same-sex marriage.
Being excluded from same-sex marriage makes it difficult for the foreign partners to travel to and stay in Taiwan, as they can often only obtain temporary student or tourist visas.
Aboriginal singer Abao, who this year won multiple Golden Melody Awards, her fellow Aboriginal singer Suming Rupi and drag group In Your Face were among the performers.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
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