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Taipei to host annual gay, lesbian festival tomorrow

More than 200 gay and lesbian couples will kiss in front of the Red Play House tomorrow afternoon, as the sixth annual "Movement for Gay Citizens-Taipei Fun-for-All Festival" gets underway.

The festival will offer an opportunity for dialogue between gays and other residents of Taipei.

Hosted by Taipei City's Bureau of Civil Affairs, the festival was the first gay event organized by any local government in the country. To help break the stereotypes against gays and make gay issues more visible, the city government listed the festival as an item in its annual budget plan despite criticism from conservative groups and some city councilors.

Deputy Bureau Chief Yeh Jie-sheng (葉傑生) said the city is sponsoring the event to stress its respect for minority groups and cultural diversity.

"We've been holding the event for six years. We really hope that more people will understand and embrace gay groups through this kind of fun and interesting event," he said yesterday during a press conference.

The theme of this year's festival is "Gay Rights Promotion and Citizen Participation."

There will be a "Rainbow Fair" and "Outdoor Movies" tomorrow, and a conference for teachers on Oct. 29.

More than 21 booths will be set up for the fair. According to the Taiwanese Tongzhi Hotline Association (TTHA), the co-organizer of the festival, activities will include demonstrations of how to use condoms properly, a showcase of S&M equipment and a "same-sex kiss event" in which photos of 200 gay and lesbian couples kissing at the same time will be taken.

"Gays and lesbians have always been the object of media misrepresentation and stereotypes. This time we want to show the `gay image' in our own way," said Cheng Chi-wei (鄭智偉), chief of TTHA.
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