- Title: Taiwan’s gay community remembers singer George Michael
- Date: 26th December 2016
- Summary: VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS PASSING GIANT RAINBOW FLAG WOMAN UNDER RAINBOW FLAG VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SHOUTING SLOGANS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 25-YEAR-OLD RALLY PARTICIPANT, KAO SHU-LEI, SAYING: "I think he was a very brave person who stayed true to himself, he was beautiful and handsome. Hearing that he passed away makes me really sad and the world has lost another person who was able to bravely express himself." PROTESTERS SITTING ON GROUND PROTESTERS SITTING AND CHATTING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) UNIDENTIFIED RALLY PARTICIPANT SAYING: "He counts as a very special icon in the gay community and he has gone through some amazing times. I think he led an exciting life and didn't leave anything undone. I think he left this world happily." PROTESTERS CHEERING AND APPLAUDING
- Embargoed: 10th January 2017 06:25
- Keywords: Taiwan gay community George Michael icon Taipei
- Location: TAIPEI, TAIWAN
- City: TAIPEI, TAIWAN
- Country: Taiwan
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Music
- Reuters ID: LVA0025EIS5DZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Taiwan's gay community remembered British singer George Michael on Monday (December 26) at a rally for same-sex marriage in Taipei.
Michael, who became one of the pop idols of the 1980s with Wham! and then forged a career as a successful solo artist with sometimes sexually provocative lyrics, died at his home in England on Sunday (December 25). He was 53.
Questions about his sexuality were raised when he was arrested in 1998 for "engaging in a lewd act" in a public restroom of the Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills, California.
Though he had relationships with women and once told family members that he was bisexual, Michael, then 34, said he was gay.
"I think he was a very brave person who stayed true to himself, he was beautiful and handsome. Hearing that he passed away makes me really sad and the world has lost another person who was able to bravely express himself," said rally participant, Kao Shu-lei.
"He counts as a very special icon in the gay community and he has gone through some amazing times. I think he led an exciting life and didn't leave anything undone. I think he left this world happily," added another identified rally participant.
British police said Michael's death was "unexplained but not suspicious." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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