Taiwan holds its first gay parade

[SunWuKong]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3233905.stm

Taiwan holds its first gay parade

Gay rights activists have marched through the Taiwanese capital Taipei, in what organisers describe as the Chinese world's first gay parade.

Nearly 500 people in fancy dress and waving rainbow-coloured flags took part in the rally, in support of government plans to legalise same-sex marriage.

The mayor of Taipei assured homosexuals that they would not suffer harassment.

Some participants marched with pushchairs to highlight their demand for the right to adopt children.

Mayor Ma Ying-jeou hailed the march as "the first such parade in Taipei, the first in Taiwan, even the first in the Chinese world".

Conservative views

"We must loudly tell each of you, gay friends, if you live in Taipei city, we will not commit any discrimination or harassment against you because of your sexual orientation," he said.

According to Taiwan's Central News Agency, many Taiwanese continue to hold very conservative views on homosexuality.

Participants said many of the island's gays were still afraid to come out, and that was why many of the marchers wore masks.

However, the Taiwanese Government is preparing legislation to legitimise gay marriage.

If the new law is passed, it will make Taiwan the first country in Asia to recognise marriages between people of the same sex.

The proposals are part of a Human Rights Basic Law which is due to be debated by Taiwanese legislators before the end of the year.

[kimpossible]

wow

[SunWuKong]

That's progressive news, although they should be glad that they're not in the PRC else they'd be shot on sight.

shot on sight? okaaayyy... not that i don't think gay people are discriminated against in Mainland China, but i'm not sure how to respond to your post. there have actually been movies from Mainland China about gay people, by the way. but none i can recall from Taiwan.

[AngryABCGirl]

I'm glad Taiwan is (finally) being progressive about this.

[yoMAMA]

San Francisco has nothing to fear, baby! :p

[amietron]

i wonder if they've ever had a gay parade in japan.

http://www.tlgp.org/eng/titlepic.jpg (http://www.tlgp.org/eng/)
they have.

[ModernLogic]

shot on sight? okaaayyy... not that i don't think gay people are discriminated against in Mainland China, but i'm not sure how to respond to your post. there have actually been movies from Mainland China about gay people, by the way. but none i can recall from Taiwan.

Man... whatever. That's pure anti-PRC propaganda coming from Taiwan.

A while back I read a Time article that talked about the growing awareness of gays in the PRC and even clubs designated for gays in big cities.

[SunWuKong]

Man... whatever. That's pure anti-PRC propaganda coming from Taiwan.

A while back I read a Time article that talked about the growing awareness of gays in the PRC and even clubs designated for gays in big cities.

well but let's not be mistaken. personally i have no doubt in my mind that gays in mainland China are still a lot more discriminated against than in Taiwan.

and by the way, Time might have published a relatively "positive" article about mainland China, but 95% of the time, Time is very biased with a Western point of view for everything, and therefore usually has anti-China propaganda.

[VV o n g B a]

wow
ditto.

[ModernLogic]

well but let's not be mistaken. personally i have no doubt in my mind that gays in mainland China are still a lot more discriminated against than in Taiwan.

and by the way, Time might have published a relatively "positive" article about mainland China, but 95% of the time, Time is very biased with a Western point of view for everything, and therefore usually has anti-China propaganda.

Really? You think Time has an anti-China bias? I actually find time quite neutral to China. Here's a list of a few US news sources and their China biases.

New York Times - slightly Pro-China (relative to other major US publications that is)
Time - pretty neutral and unbias
MSNBC - slight anti-China bias
National Review - anti-China
Fox News - Raging anti-Sinoites

[SunWuKong]

Really? You think Time has an anti-China bias? I actually find time quite neutral to China. Here's a list of a few US news sources and their China biases.

New York Times - slightly Pro-China (relative to other major US publications that is)
Time - pretty neutral and unbias
MSNBC - slight anti-China bias
National Review - anti-China
Fox News - Raging anti-Sinoites

CNN can be pretty bad, too. but not nearly as bad as Fox.

but yeah, i don't like Time, but once in a while they do have good and unbiased articles on China. and have you ever checked out Time Asia? most of its writers are white and their points of views very Western. you'd think they would get more Asian writers since it's published in Asia and covers what's happening in Asia. it's English language and therefore it probably caters to expats, but still, there are plenty of English-fluent Asian people over there. they could have came from international schools, or they could be Asian expats.

[SynRG]

A while back I read a Time article that talked about the growing awareness of gays in the PRC and even clubs designated for gays in big cities.

There are gay clubs in both Shanghai and Taipei. They're not openly called gay clubs, but everyone knows they are gay clubs. My gf has lots of gay friends.

There are alot of gay people in Taipei, but most of them I've met will never, ever admit it, no matter how "gay" they act. I've even heard stories about Taiwanese gay peeps going as far as doing the whole family and kid thing, and having the gay lifestyle on the side. I can't even imagine living my whole life "in the closet" so your family doesn't have to lose face.

The only times i've ever seen Taiwanese locals openly gay was either when they were really, really drunk, or on yao tou wan.

Anyways it's cool to see Taiwan going more progressive. Even though it doesn't really affect me that much, I'm down with it. More power to 'em ;).