More than 100 white-shirted protesters held a rally against same-sex marriage outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
Calling themselves the Baby’s Breath Layman Alliance, protesters in surgical masks waved bouquets of white flowers while shouting their rejection of “rainbow terror,” homosexual marriage, homosexual education and giving National Health Insurance coverage to foreigners with HIV/AIDS.
While protesters called themselves “a million old geezers” in support of anti-same sex marriage columnist Tseng Yu-wen (曾有文), most were parents accompanied by their children, many of whom had their pictures taken with the several protesters in inflatable dinosaur costumes who wandered around the site.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
After shouting slogans, protesters settled down to consume free packages of instant noodles provided by event organizers while watching a series of protest skits and speeches throughout the afternoon.
“We are here because the Council of Grand Justices is set to begin hearings on the constitutionality of homosexual marriage later this month,” said a man surnamed Tsou (鄒), who said he was a core alliance official.
Many participants in the event requested anonymity and it lacked a clear official spokesman.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Tsou denied any connection with the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation and Alliance of Taiwan Religious Groups for the Protection of the Family, which in the past have organized several major demonstrations against homosexual marriage, instead saying that the Baby’s Breath Layman Alliance was organized online by like-minded parents.
The rally fell far short of the numbers achieved at earlier demonstrations, which attracted thousands of participants.
While many opponents of homosexual marriage have advocated the passage of a special law granting marriage-like rights, yesterday’s protesters were opposed to such a measure.
“As soon as you open that door, there will just be demands for more and the passage of formal same-sex marriage legislation will just be a matter of time,” Tsou said.
“There needs to be more recognition of the importance of healthy families,” a woman surnamed Lin (林) said, adding that she has participated in Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation rallies.
“I am not a religious believer, much less a Christian, but it is important to stand up for Taiwan, the next generation and family values,” said a man surnamed Lin (林), who said he had also participated in earlier rallies.
“Other than the emphasis on AIDS, many of the demands are basically the same [as previous protests against same-sex marriage],” said Lee Ching-ya (李靜亞), a protester previously observed speaking at Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation rallies who said he was an alliance volunteer.
He directed yesterday’s slogan shouting.
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
RSS