The 15th annual Taipei lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Pride Parade yesterday drew about 123,000 participants, according to organizers’ estimates, hitting a new record since it was first held in 2003.
At about 1pm yesterday, paraders flooded toward the event’s main stage on Ketagalan Boulevard with 160 attending groups — including the American Institute in Taiwan and 12 groups from Japan and South Korea — divided into nine groups marching along three different routes.
The western route proceeded on Gongyuan Road (公園路), the northern on Zhongshan S Road (中山南路) and the southern on Xinyi Road (信義路).
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
After a two-hour parade from 2:30pm to 4:30pm, revelers returned to the boulevard for musical performances and group speeches until about 7:30pm.
Photo: EPA-EFE/David Chang
Event organizer Taiwan LGBT Pride Community used the event to promote sex education, saying students should have access to diversified education about different sexual orientations and gender differences.
When people are familiar with different sexual orientations across the spectrum, they will be less likely to discriminate against others who are different from themselves, Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association spokesperson Chuang Shu-ching (莊淑靜) said.
The Council of Grand Justices on May 24 announced its constitutional interpretation of the Civil Code, saying that it is unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the right to marry and called on lawmakers to amend the code within two years.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The two-year period can be painfully long for many same-sex couples, Green Party Taiwan member Jia Bo-kai (賈伯楷) said, adding that some of his friends have passed away before winning the right to be married.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is deferring marriage equality legislation because it wants to cater to both supporting and opposition camps, Jia said.
“The DPP does not even have the ability to ‘harvest’ the issue even though the council has paved the way,” he said.
Photo: Reuters/Tyrone Siu
Marriage Equality Platform spokesperson Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔) called on the government to speed up same-sex marriage legislation, adding that the equality of all citizens should come before what the opposition groups call “solidarity.”
Marta Bulawa, a 23-year-old Polish woman joining the parade for the first time with her European friends, said marriage means “security” for gay people.
Loren Letourneau, a 37-year-old Canadian with two children, said sexual orientation is not a choice, but a natural disposition, and he would teach his children to be safe no matter their sexual orientation.
At 4pm yesterday, Premier William Lai (賴清德) wrote on Facebook that the Executive Yuan would follow the constitutional interpretation to propose a bill about same-sex marriage soon.
Meanwhile, both the Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance (Happiness Alliance) and the Alliance of Taiwan Religious Groups for the Protection of the Family (Family Alliance) issued statements in response to the parade’s call for wider sex education.
Gay rights advocates often reduce sex education to merely sexual acts, while students should be protected from such an “improper sex education,” the Happiness Alliance said.
Same-sex marriage advocates have distorted school education by instilling wrong information into students, the Family Alliance said, adding that gay people should not be involved in sex education.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source