Television footage of nearly 100 homosexual men dressed in their underpants and hiding their faces after a police raid has triggered a storm of controversy over the rights of gay people with HIV.
\nThe saga has outraged gay rights and AIDS awareness groups who have criticized the media's role and say it shows lingering anti-gay sentiment in Taiwan, which is working towards becoming the first country in Asia to legalize gay marriages.
\nThe pictures were first broadcast by major news networks last week after police said they showed a weekend raid on a drug and sex orgy.
\nThey were rebroadcast again and again after blood tests ordered by authorities found that 28 of the 92 men had HIV, which causes AIDS.
\nThen neighbors of the men were shown saying they were so scared of being infected with HIV that they had disinfected their homes, and police officers who had questioned the men said they had cleaned their seats immediately afterwards.
\nThe episode shows that homosexuality is stigmatized in Taiwan as synonymous with AIDS, Gender-Sexuality Rights Association of Taiwan spokeswoman Wang Ping (
PHOTO: WANG SHU-HUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
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