A Taiwanese group on Saturday took part in this year’s Pride in London parade, holding banners reading “First Country in Asia” to publicize the nation’s judicial passage of marriage equality in May.
The first official Pride in London event was held in 1972 and attracted 2,000 people. It is now the biggest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) parade in the UK and attracts thousands of participants every year as it winds through the bustling areas of Soho and Trafalgar Square.
This year, the parade attracted 26,000 participants and numerous onlookers, with rainbow flags hanging on shops and outside government buildings along the route, which was marked in rainbow colors on Google Maps.
Photo: CNA
A group of 100 Taiwanese organized by Taiwanese students in London also took part in the parade to promote the nation’s status as the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
The Council of Grand Justices in May ruled that the law must be changed to allow same-sex marriage, paving the way for its legalization and cementing the nation’s status as a beacon for LGBT rights.
Since no significant progress had been made toward marriage equality when last year’s parade was held, the group had called on the government to pass legislation to allow same-sex unions, a member of the group said.
However, this year the situation changed dramatically, so it focused on celebrating the nation’s achievement and produced a video in support of marriage equality, the group said.
A British man named Kai and his Taiwanese partner, A-wei (阿瑋), said that after the law comes into effect, they will return to Taiwan to register their marriage.
The parade also attracted a wide variety of groups, companies and organizations in the UK, including Facebook, Walt Disney Co, the British Parliament, London police, Muslim LGBT groups and the post office and fire departments.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
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