In pictures: thousands attend 16th annual Taiwan Pride

October 30, 2018 On Saturday, over a hundred thousand people reportedly gathered in Taiwan's capital and participated in the 16th annual lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual (LGBT) Pride. According to the organisers, about 137 thousand people participated in the largest LGBT Pride of Asia.

People marched with banners and placards which read "love is equal" and "vote for your happy future". Of the many attendees, also participated in the parade. Civil rights activist Chi Chia-wei was first to come out as homosexual on Taiwan TV, in 1986.

Pride attendees gathered near the President 's office where the Pride parade started. The attendees protested for education of same-sex marriage in schools. In May 2017, the Taiwanese court had ruled same-sex marriage as legal, and had set a two-year period for its legalisation including the time to amend the law, if required.

With just six months remaining from the proposed deadline, some groups including some churches have been pushing for preventing same-sex getting a legal recognition, saying marriage is "a bond between one man and one woman."

Taiwan's court ruled Article 972 of Civil code "unconstitutional", which defined marriage only between opposite genders, but a separate public vote is scheduled to happen on November 24 regarding the law about same-sex marriage.

During the LGBT Pride, drag queen Chin Kuang-chih said, "We hope the government will take the issue seriously. It's a pity that there has been no action after the court decision". At the scheduled deadline, same-sex marriage is to be automatically legalised if the government does not reach a conclusion about the law.

Taiwan Pride was first organised in 2003.