Taiwan LGBTQ
Taiwan is romantic place to visit, you can go on an adventure whilst viewing their beautiful scenic landscapes where you are able to find privacy and comfort. You can also dip your toes into a world of fun during the night if you would like to find nightclubs, bars, hot springs, saunas and gay cruising. The best part is that it is affordable to spend your time there.
Taiwan has a happy, friendly, endearing and welcoming atmosphere towards the LGBT community. Their lifestyle outlooks are accepting of all peoples sexualities, religions and cultures which has made it become one of the most accepting cities worldwide. This can be seen when they celebrate the Taiwan Annual Gay Pride Parade each year which is the largest in Asia and has over eighty thousand people in attendance, it is the biggest in all of Asia. In 2016 there were eighty thousand people in attendance. Taiwan is a liberal and freeing place to be, you won’t feel like people are watching what you are doing. So you are able to do what you would like and be yourself.
Taiwan has a strong education system which is why they areopen to people’s sexual lifestyle choices. In 2004, the Gender Equity Education Act which changed to schooling syllabus to include the teaching of gender equality and diversity. This was passed after a tragic event occurred where a high school student was found dead in the bathroom due to unknown circumstances after being bullied because of his personal characteristics.
In Taiwan there are people who follow religions which have open views towards people’s sexualities like Buddhism which is one of their main religions. It does not have any teachings about sexualitiesand they respect it. There is also an extremely small Christian community. There are no laws in Taiwan which criminalise LGBT behaviour.
Taiwan Celebrates LGBT
To this day, important figures within the LGBT community are celebrated. A good example of this is a transgender secondary teacher in Taichung, Taiwan's named Tseng Kai-hsin who is 52 years old who is a LGBT activities and appears in the media. The Taichung's Government Building has also flown rainbow flags in support of same-sex marriage. A high school within Taipei has also introduced a unisex bathroom, with over 20 other schools who have also applied for the installation of unisex bathrooms to. In the meantime, the government has promoted that the schools are able to build their own unisex bathrooms.
Drag shows are common in Ximending and throughout all of Taiwan. Two of Taipei's famous Divas Magnolia la Manga and Bouncy Babs often have guest appearances at important events throughout the year. People travel from all over the world just to see them and are a main attraction for locals who enjoy watching their performances.
Taiwan also hosts an International Queer Film Festival every year where people can watch an estimation of around 60 movies over two weekends. It was first ran in 2014 and was said to be the first screening of its kind. The movies are of LGBTQI themes and cover a range of issues include family, aging, relationships and HIV/AIDS.
You can also find the LGBT Taiwan community online through social websites like Onescene and Fridae.
Onescene:
You can meetup with members of your community through social websites and applications which can sort members by location. A great example of this is One Scene which allows people to upload photos of themselves and provide a basic character profile similar to Facebook. The details can include age, sex, sexuality, location, appearance and other personal details they would like to add like hobbies and interests. Modern technology has helped to bring the LGBT community together through easy online access from the comfort of their own home.
Fridae:
Fridae is another website which can be used to meet and chat with members who identify as being LGBT. You can place is dating, friendship or meet up advertisements. You are able to organise who you would like to meet up privately and talk to people who appear online. Members are also able to create their own blogs which allows you to learn more about them.
Same Sex Marriage In Taiwan
LGBT marriage is currently not recognised as a legal union between two people. The community has asked for legalisation to pass for people who are in a same-sex relationship are able to adopt and foster children together but has not yet been passed.
There was a case in 2012, a gay couple from Taiwan filed a lawsuit as they had applied to married but it was rejected due to their laws. They had hoped that this legal battle would change Taiwan’s legal standings on same sex marriage making it become the very first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. In the same year, Taiwan has its very first same-sex wedding between a couple who followed Buddhism.
Recently Taiwan has been more vocal about their opinions on same-sex marriage. Recently, the president of Taiwan said
“When it comes to love, everyone is equal”.
The community have held hugerallies in support of this movement all across Taiwan. Compared to their neighbouring countries they are open to other people’s sexualities.
Same-sex marriage issues were brought to light in 2016 when a man named Jacques Picoux committed suicide when the love of his life and partner of 35 years passed away with cancer. Since they were not married he was unable to make any medical decisions nearer the ending of his partner’s life.