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Rainbow
Flag To Rise
For First
Time Over Taiwan
by
365Gay.com from the Web, September 2, 2006
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Taipei --- For the very first
time the Rainbow Flag will be raised in an official ceremony in Taiwan an
indication that the island off mainland China is growing more tolerant of gays.
The flag will go up in front of Taipei City Hall on September 17, marking the
start of "Queer Friendly Taipei" and in another first the city's Department of
Civil Affairs is a major sponsor of the event.
LGBT groups have been holding the celebration for the past seven years, and each
year until now the city has rebuffed efforts to hoist the flag at city hall.
This year LGBT leaders were expecting another letdown, but the city surprised
them by agreeing to the flag raising and funding. When the festival turned
up in the civil affairs budget some city councilors and conservative groups were
outraged.
Yeh Jie-sheng, the department's Deputy Chief said the city was sponsoring the
event to stress its respect for minority groups and cultural diversity.
"Conservative and religious groups have been criticizing the event, and we
welcome different opinions. We will invite these groups this year to
discuss issues of gay rights together," he said during a press conference this
week at Taipei City Hall.
The festival will include human rights forums and cultural events.
"The recognition of the rights of gays and lesbians by all people requires
making a long-term effort step by step ... This festival will establish a bridge
and allow the public to better understand the gay community," said Wang Ping of
the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association, one of the organizers of the festival.
Wang said there is still much to be done in attaining full rights for gays
pointing to the issue of recognizing same-sex relationships.
To bring that point home to the government, the gay pride parade that will wrap
up the festival will feature a collective mock gay wedding ceremony.
Gay leaders say that if the government won't permit same-sex marriage it could
at least create a civil registry such as those in a number of American states
and in most European countries.
In 2004, a study commissioned by the Taiwan Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Association found that 36 percent of Taiwan's gays have been harassed or
discriminated against because of their sexuality.
The survey showed that the majority of harassment cases occurred on university
campuses, but almost as many cases were perpetrated by family members. A
quarter of the cases occurred in the workplace.
In July, a 22 year old Taiwanese university student announced he had disowned
his parents and is suing a psychiatric hospital after being put through what he
calls a forced bid to turn him heterosexual.
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