Pop singer A-mei (阿妹), who gave a free concert in Taipei on Sunday to show her support for same-sex marriage and other gay rights, said she believes all forms of love should be respected.
“Some people might resist this idea out of a lack of understanding. We can use this [concert] as an opportunity to help people gradually understand,” A-mei told reporters before the show.
“Love and music can block out a lot of unnecessary things,” the 41-year-old Aborigine singer said. “No matter what we think, when we stand here listening to music together, being moved, calling out or swaying with people we don’t know, we are on some level affected.”
Photo: Wang Wen-lin, Taipei Times
Close to 20,000 fans flocked to the free outdoor concert at Huashan 1914 Creative Park, despite the cold and wet weather.
The star performed more than 20 songs for her fans, many of whom held rainbow flags, a symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
The cost of the concert, estimated at about NT$3 million (US$100,149), was covered by A-mei herself, her agent said.
Thousands of fans left messages of appreciation on the Sina Weibo microblogging site and the singer’s Facebook page after the concert.
“Thank you A-mei and a team filled with love. A moving night. We all cried!” wrote Nelson Chen, a Taiwanese man who with his partner fought a court case last year for the legal recognition of his same-sex marriage.
A-mei’s concert came as the same-sex marriage debate has heightened.
A draft bill to legalize same-sex marriage and allow married gay couples to adopt children cleared its first reading in the legislature in October.
However, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Taipei to protest the bill last month.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS