The annual Taiwan Trans March is to be held in downtown Taipei on Oct. 27 to raise public awareness of diversity in society, the organizers said.
Participants are to parade though the popular Ximending (西門町) shopping district during the evening of that Friday, the Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBTQ+) Hotline Association said.
The following day, on Oct. 28, the larger Taiwan Pride Parade is to be held in a different area of Taipei, with six LGBTQ+ groups expected to participate, it added.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
According to the American Psychological Association, “transgender” is an “umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth.”
The Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association said the Taiwan Trans March is aimed at helping raise public awareness of diversity in a society where everyone is free to chose their gender identity, but sometimes face restrictions.
People are often expected to dress and act in accordance with their gender at birth, the association said, adding that those frameworks were established mainly for convenience.
The reality is that some women simply do not like skirts and dresses, and some men prefer feminine clothing, it said.
Those people simply do not want to be framed in a certain way, so it is important that binary gender limitations be removed to allow people to be themselves, the association said.
Participants in the Taiwan Trans March are invited to dress as they please, so they can feel at ease walking down the street, in a world that they hope will become more accommodating and beautiful, the association said.
The Taiwan Trans March has been held by the association every year since 2018, except in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, a record 3,000 people joined the trans march in Ximending, advocating for greater understanding and respect for the transgender community in Taiwan. The Taiwan Pride Parade, meanwhile, has been held in Taiwan for the past 20 years.
Internationally, LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, with the “plus” representing other sexual identities such as asexual, pansexual and intersex.
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