Tomorrow, October 31st, is not only Halloween in western countries, (and in the rest of the world influenced such) but it is also an important day in Taiwan; the 2020 Taiwan LGBT Pride.
Taiwan Pride is an annual LGBT Pride held in Taipei, Taiwan.
People usually start the parade from the Taipei City Government Hall, walking miles along the major roads of the city, wearing bold costumes, greeting strangers, and sharing love.
Step by step, we parade…
In the year 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, this is itself an important milestone for local LGBT groups and their supporters.
However, the liberty and equality we now enjoy in Taiwan does not come in vain.
The first Taiwan Pride was held on November 1st, 2003, and it was also the very first in any Chinese cultural community anywhere. Unfortunately, after the parade, the government of the day criticized it as an “obscenity”, which upset many gay groups and also reminded them that the road to equality still had a long way to go.
In the following years, the 2004 pride, “Awaken Citizen Conscious”, the 2005 pride, “Be together!” then featured participants other than homosexuals, such as bisexuals, transgender people, and many other minority groups in Taiwan or from around the globe.
Year by year, ‘Taiwan’s’ Pride has been progressing.
People came up with different ideas such as “adding colors” to the parade, with the now familiar “rainbow landscape” organized by the crowd in the middle of the road in 2007, – the “Rainbow Power” Taiwan Pride.
The same year, A-mei, the Queen of Chinese Pop, became the first spokesperson for Taiwan Pride.
This not only drew the passion from the crowd, but it also influenced the concept of Pride and raised awareness in the general populace as well as in specific groups, public figures, et al attracting more and more attention as time passed.
The 2009 Pride, “Love out Loud”, the 2010 Pride, “Out and Vote”, the 2011 Pride, “LGBT fight back discrimination get out!”, the 2012 Pride, “I do! Do I? Equal rights to marriage, diversity in partnership”, and the 2013 Pride, “Make LGBT visible 2.0, the voice of sexual sufferer” all tended to focus more on the anti-discrimination laws of Taiwan, and the recognition of same-sex unions.
They also tried hard to fight for their rights from governments that turned a blind eye.
With time, the parades got bigger and bigger.
In 2010, the first Pride in south Taiwan was held in Kaohsiung. After that, Taiwan Pride started to spread to cities all over Taiwan and gained more and more attention from people in many different fields.
2020 Taiwan LGBT Pride Parade, “Beauty, My Own Way”
“Beauty, My Own Way” is the theme this year, and in Chinese it is “成人之美”, which is a pun.
“成人之美” is a well-known Chinese idiom representing the virtue to help others accomplish their beauty, trying to cease the conflict between the LGBT groups and opposing groups.
Another meaning of the Chinese word “成人” is “adult”.
“The age of 18 symbolizes transformation and growth. From the first parade in 2003, with the goal to make LGBTQ visible, to this year’s “Beauty, My Own Way,” the LGBT Pride parades in Taiwan have expanded in scale, and now take place in various locations across the country every year.
To this end, the LGBTIQA+ community not only needs to be visible but should also be celebrated for our beauty, vivacity, and collective transformation.”
If you’re a “成人”(adult), and want to discover your own beauty and all kinds of different beauty and love, you can join the parade anytime, anyplace!
Be there.
More Information
Organizer｜Taiwan LGBT Pride
Date｜Octorber, 31st
Time｜11:30 – 18:40
Place｜Taipei City Hall Square
Website｜https://www.facebook.com/events/672984590071647
- All images supplied by the author
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