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Activists march against upcoming gay parade

A man holds a cross to counter an anti-gay rally in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES

Worried about the impact of a gay rights parade on Oct. 31, hundreds of Christian anti-gay activists took to the streets of Taipei yesterday.

“The annual gay parade was first held in 2003 with only 500 people, but the number of participants grew to 18,000 last year. Don't you think that's horrible?” Pastor Chen Yu-chuan (陳宇全), one of the co-organizers of yesterday's event, asked a crowd before the parade began at Liberty Square in Taipei.

“The gay parade last year was the biggest in Asia and may become the biggest in the world in the future. Would you want to see the downfall of Taiwan,” the pastor said.

The crowd enthusiastically answered: “It's horrible” and “No” to Chen's questions.

Behind Chen were large banners that read: “No to mistaken love,” “Keep Taiwan clean” and “God's love is beyond everything.”

Another co-organizer of the demonstration, Peter Chu (朱植森), also a pastor, said that sexual relations between two men or two women was against human nature and could bring disaster.

Christian groups march in an anti-gay protest in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES

“We're worried that God may bring destruction upon Taiwan and everyone who lives here, just as he did to Sodom and Gomorrah,” Chu said.

The parade began after the rally, with participants holding banners and placards bearing slogans such as “Gay parade will bring destruction” and “God blesses only the union between a man and a woman.”

A woman surnamed Lin (林) said that gay marriages would only create “incomplete families” that would give their children “twisted values.”

“Suppose that two women get married and raise a child together — who should be called mother?” she asked.

They sang Christian hymns and chanted slogans as they marched through the streets in central Taipei.

When they returned to the Liberty Square more than an hour later, they were met by a group of gay rights activists — many of them Christians and gays.

“We don't think that the Bible prohibits homosexuality, it's just a matter of how you interpret it,” said Wang Hao-chung (王灝中), one of the activists.

“Jesus teaches us to love and not to judge. It's unfortunate that church organizations are so eager to judge gays and hold activities that will only fuel hatred,” he said.

The activists then sent a copy of their statement to Chu, who debated with the activists as he accepted the statement.

“The church does not promote hatred and does not hate gays. We welcome them with our arms wide open,” Chu said. “We welcome gays, just as we would welcome murderers, rapists and robbers in the church.”

“We have nothing against gays; we just hope they would correct their incorrect sexual behavior,” he said.

As the two sides talked, a young man taking part in the parade rushed forward and shouted: “Gays are just not human.”

Gay rights activists said it was just an example of how such parades would only fuel hatred, while Chu said what the man did was wrong.

The debate ended as the two sides could not reach an agreement.
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