- Title: TAIWAN: Thousands of people parade for same-sex rights in Taiwan
- Date: 26th October 2013
- Summary: GAY PARTICIPANT STANDING AND HOLDING BANNER GAY PARTICIPANTS STANDING AND ONE PARTICIPANT HOLDING BANNER BANNER READING: EQUAL LOVE, EQUAL RIGHTS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 31-YEAR-OLD GAY PARTICIPANT, XUE-JI SAYING: "The people around me are very friendly towards me, I do not feel discriminated. But every time when I see news or social issues (against gays), I would feel ver
- Embargoed: 10th November 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Taiwan, Province of China
- Country: Taiwan
- Topics: People
- Reuters ID: LVA431LENPTWNPF9ZXANRPB7TSCP
- Story Text: Thousands of people participated into a parade on Saturday (October 26) in Taiwan demanding for equal rights for same-sex couples.
Taiwan's Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride launched its annual parade on Saturday afternoon with the theme of "Make LGBT Visible 2.0 -- The Voice of Sexual Sufferer" this year.
Thirty-one-year-old participant Xue-Ji said he still feels helpless when confronted with judgement from society.
"The people around me are very friendly towards me, I do not feel discriminated. But every time when I see news or social issues (against gays), I would feel very powerless. Even though I am happy, but a lot of people are not. So I wish with the efforts of everyone, this will become more common," he said.
Another participant from China, April, said it's very tough for women who unknowingly married gay men, and felt constrained about their sex life in the marriage.
"We surveyed and found about 30 percent of 'underground gays' choose to marry people of the opposite sex due to secular reasons, you know. So this will lead to passive violence in many families as the women cannot receive the satisfaction from sex. So this is something very heart-wrenching for the women. So in Beijing, there are many groups of women whose husbands are gays, and they have Weibo support groups to discuss find help for oneself. But many choose to remain silent," said April, who did not want to reveal her last name.
Taiwan LGBT Pride has organized eleven parades since 2003 with hopes of inspiring the visibility of and discussion within LGBT communities as well as conversations with the society. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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