More than 50,000 people yesterday took to the streets in Taipei to show their support for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, calling on the government to respect diversity in families and legalize same-sex marriage.
Holding up giant rainbow banners over their heads, tens of thousands of people — many of whom began to assemble on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office well ahead of the scheduled departure time of 2pm — shouted in excitement as the host of the rally announced the beginning of this year’s gay pride parade.
Prior to the departure of the parade, Hong Kong pop star Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and singer Anthony Wong (黃天耀) — who earlier confirmed he is gay — showed up to express their support for LGBT rights.
Photo: AFP / Mandy Cheng
“Love is gender-blind, everyone is entitled to the right to enjoy happiness,” Leung said. “I can feel the joy of marriage after I got married last year, and I hope that everyone can enjoy the same degree of happiness as I do, regardless of their sexual orientation.”
Wong sang the theme song of the 1997 Hong Kong film Happy Together (春光乍洩), which recounts the story of gay couple, and joined the parade.
“Things are better now than 20 years ago, but discrimination [against LGBT people] still exists,” Wong said. “After taking part in the parade in Taiwan, I hope to take the experience back to Hong Kong to fight against discrimination.”
Taiwanese actress Chu Hui-chen (朱慧珍) — who became active in LGBT rights campaigns after her lesbian daughter committed suicide in May — also appeared.
She called on all parents of LGBT people to take part in the parade and in the campaign for LGBT rights.
Many participants in the parade were creative in their outfits, with some men dressed in bridal gowns, as female marching band members or wearing only shorts, while many women dressed up in men’s formal suits.
The atmosphere of the parade was festive, but the appeal was serious.
“We would like to call on the government, and mainstream society to seriously consider the idea that everyone has the right to get married, and to form a family — be they heterosexual or a member of the LGBT community,” said Albert, head of the Taiwan LGBT Pride Parade Alliance, the group that organizes the annual LGBT pride parade.
“Legally recognized marriage is important, not only because it’s about love and commitment between a couple, but also because it would enable a couple to enjoy rights and share responsibilities,” he said.
While Taiwanese society may seem more accepting of LGBT communities, Albert said that he still was not too optimistic about the prospects for the legalization of same-sex marriage.
“Quite often, the public holds an attitude of ‘distant friendliness’ or ‘packaged discrimination’ toward members of LGBT communities,” Albert said. “Many people may seem friendly to LGBT groups because they think these groups have nothing to do with them, but once they feel that some LGBT issues would affect them, they show some hostility.”
Splitting into two groups with different routes after departing, marchers returned to Ketagalan Boulevard at about 4:30pm, where they had a tribute to three late advocates of LGBT rights — entertainer Da Bing (大炳), activist Chiang Chia-wen (江嘉雯) and stage actor Liu Ching-hung (劉敬弘).
The parade’s organizers said the tribute was to recognize the contribution of the three to the LGBT rights movement.
The Taiwan LGBT Pride Parade Alliance estimated that more than 3,000 foreigners also took part in the parade yesterday, representing more than 20 countries.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) fraud conviction and prison sentence were yesterday overturned by a Hong Kong court, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges Jeremy Poon (潘兆初), Anthea Pang (彭寶琴) and Derek Pang (彭偉昌) said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had “erred.” “The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges
RSS