Opponents of same-sex marriage yesterday rallied tens of thousands of people along Ketagalan Boulevard, in a massive protest against proposed Civil Code amendments.
Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation, which organized the protest, said 80,000 people attended the demonstration, whose white-shirted crowd spilled out of Ketagalan Boulevard to encircle Jingfu Gate (景福門).
Organizers said that companion rallies in Taichung and Kaohsiung attracted an additional 90,000 participants.
Photo: AP
While a huge rally outside the Legislative Yuan last month was marked by Christian hymns and prayer, yesterday’s event had a more ecumenical bent, with protesters dancing to the children’s song Lovable Family.
Participants waved pieces of paper calling for a referendum on same-sex marriage and parental control over children’s education, after being forbidden from bringing their own banners by event organizers.
A skit called for what it called a pro-homosexual curriculum to be “driven out” of schools, with members of the crowd also throwing around two large black balls while calling for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) to “roll out” (滾出去) of Taiwan — a pun on the Mandarin expression for “scram.”
Photo: CNA
Yu has been one of the main sponsors of amendments to the Civil Code, which would legalize same-sex marriage, also serving as co-convener of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee to which legislation has been referred.
Leaders from a cross-section of Buddhist, Daoist, Christian and other religious groups, which have joined the anti-gay marriage National Religious Alliance, were also featured.
“We oppose homosexual marriage being amended into the Civil Code because the family system comprised of marriage between one man and one woman is the foundation of society, and if you damage it, that will lead to marriage, family and the structure of society being completely wiped out,” alliance spokesman Chu Wu-hsien (朱武憲) said.
Photo: CNA
“Every person has a right to love, but there is also a proper order to love: We do not use the same manner to love animals as people, and love for a husband and wife is different from how you love friends,” Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference secretary-general Otried Chan (陳科) said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus convener Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) was the only national legislator who was observed taking the stage.
“My hope is that we can combine tolerance with a principled stand,” he said, adding that he was not representing the KMT caucus at the rally.
Several rows of counter-protesters rallied across a section of Zhongshan Road next to National Taiwan University Hospital with at least one banner-bearing group breaking into the main protest site, sparking a stand-off.
A small group of people late on Friday night had previously covered sidewalks and walls around Ketagalan Boulevard, the 228 Peace Memorial Park and the DPP’s headquarters with “reverse “graffiti slogans in favor of same-sex marriage.
About 10 people used a small cargo truck to haul a pressure washer around the site, spraying water at high speeds onto metal stencils to strip off grime and leave behind slogans condemning “special law” proposals and calling for “marriage equality now.”
“We are washing away grime to combat the mudslinging aimed at us,” said Liu Yu (劉宇) a gay Internet celebrity on online academic bulletin board system Professional Technology Temple (PTT), who accompanied the activists.
“Everyone has to do their part on this issue, and we hope people will recognize our efforts even though we do not have nearly as much money as the opposition,” he said, referring to numerous front-page newspaper advertisements and prime-time TV slots purchased in recent weeks by same-sex marriage opponents.
A rival protest in favor of gay marriage is scheduled for Saturday.
Additional reporting by Ye Kuan-yu
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole