Coronavirus-Free Taiwan Holds Pride Parade ‘for the World’

Taiwan was one of the few countries that managed to hold an organized LGBT pride march on Sunday at a time when the vast majority of events were canceled as a result of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

Around 1,200 people marched through downtown Taipei, dressed in the colors of the LGBT rainbow flag. Organizer Darien Chen said it was an honor to march when nearly 500 other events globally had been canceled and insisted that the LGBT community wanted to mark the 50th anniversary of the first pride marches in the United States.

“The whole world is facing the height of the pandemic,” he said, according to the BBC. “So Taiwan won’t give in. And we must continue with this flame of hope and stand up for the world.”

As the majority of countries were unable to hold pride marches, many participants declared themselves as representatives of those unable to march around the world due to restrictions on large gatherings. As a result, the event was dubbed the “Taiwan Pride Parade for the World.” Cookie, a French drag queen who has lived in Taiwan for the past six years, said that he was “here to march for France.”

“Since the rest of the world cannot march or even go out, we have the opportunity to march for the rest of the world,” he told AFP news agency.

Happening now – As #COVID19 forced most of the Pride events around the world to go virtual, #Taiwan is organizing the a Pride Parade titled “Taiwan Pride Parade for the World.” The crowd is slowly gathering outside the Liberty Square at CKS Memorial Hall. pic.twitter.com/35Rrj0Fsss

— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) June 28, 2020

Taiwan’s ability to legally hold such a rally is a testament to the country’s successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite neighboring China, where the outbreak began, authorities have recorded just 447 cases and seven deaths. With a population of close to 24 million, this makes it one of the lowest infection rates worldwide.

June has become the month of choice to celebrate the LGBT pride movement because it serves as a commemoration of the Stonewall Uprising, a series of riots that began June 28th, 1969, outside the Stonewall Inn in New York City and that eventually led to the rise of the international gay rights movement.

Last year, Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. Taiwan’s lawmakers passed the law after a 2017 ruling by the country’s Supreme Court that stated the existing definition of marriage between a man and a woman was unconstitutional and gave parliament two years to pass legislation to resolve the issue.

The question has proven a bitterly divisive issue for Taiwanese society, with two-thirds of the country (67 percent) expressing their opposition to it in a vote held in November 2018. The referendum was advisory, as Taiwan is a republic and laws are made through its legislature, not the popular vote.

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