25,000 Come Out In Taipei
Taipei’s pride parade has grown. In just seven years, the annual celebration has gone from 500 participants to 25,000.
Using Saturday’s annual march through the capital to call on the Taiwanese government to improve gay rights and push for marriage equality, participants said the festivities were one of the more vibrant pride parades in the Asia region.
This year’s theme was ‘Love Out Loud’ and some believe the large turn-out was due, in part, to an anti-gay rally held only one week before. Organised by Tawain religious organisations, the anti-gay rally was a response to the recent push for same-sex marriage, a topic the Taiwanese government has been relatively progressive on.
In 2003 the Taiwanese government drafted a bill to allow same-sex marriage and give same-sex couples to right to adopt and have children. The law is yet to be past, and many believe the move was to appease both camps, for and against same-sex marriage.
“We love the people around us, but sometimes the society and the government don’t love us, or even see us,” pride rally organiser Tung Chu-chu told Taiwan News. “The government made us lots of empty promises, but so far they haven’t come through,” she said.
Many participants from Saturday’s rally are said to have come from neighboring countries and other areas in the region, braving the 30 degree heat to take part.
”[Taipei’s gay scene] is not that different to the one we have in Chicago,” once woman told Taipei Times.
“Taiwan is very outgoing. Even in Japan it is more conservative,” Naiyuki Fukai, organiser of Tokyo Pride 2010 told the Times.
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