Taiwan celebrates same-sex marriage during their “biggest gay pride ever”

In Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, an estimated amount of 200,000 went to the streets to celebrate pride. This was the first pride celebration since the Asian island state legalised same sex marriage, after a ruling by the supreme court. Taiwan is the only Asian country where same-sex couples can legally marry.
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 The current progressive government supported the pride celebration. This government adopted the law to legalise same-sex marriage, after the supreme court ruled the ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional. Since May, over 2100 same-sex couples tied the knot, as shown in the numbers provided by the government.

The large number of people that came to celebrate equality, made it the biggest pride of East-Asia. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry wrote on its Facebook page: “We hope you have your glad-rags on, because this year’s celebration should be a special one after the passing of #SameSexMarriage legislation, with over 200,000 people expected to attend from all over the world!”

The most well-known gay activist of Taiwan, Chi Chia-wei, told press agency Reuters to be extremely happy. “We used to be worried and fearful, but we have accomplished it, so we are all joining the Pride parade with joy.” He watched the pride march from a balcony, while waving the rainbow flag. Chi was the first person to come out on national Taiwanese television and brought the case of marriage equality to the supreme court.

 On a social level however, homosexuality is generally not accepted in Taiwan. In 2018, citizens enforced a referendum in response to the prospect of same-sex marriage. In this referendum, a majority voted against the legalization, which prompted the government to implement same-sex marriage through a different law.

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