Taiwan sees Asia's 'biggest' gay rally

A TAIWANESE gay and lesbian group on Sunday hailed what it said was the biggest ever gay pride parade in Asia over the weekend, saying 30,000 people had taken to the streets for the event.

"The rally was a big success as the turnout was bigger than we had expected,'' Rex Shau, a spokesman for Taiwan LGBT Pride, said.

The tens of thousands who marched through Taipei on Saturday included supporters from China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, organisers said.

Waving rainbow flags and placards, the marchers paraded for about a kilometre, many wearing Brazilian carnival-style costumes while others wore only men's briefs despite chilly winds and drizzle.

Organisers said they hoped to move gay and lesbian issues higher up the political agenda in five cities ahead of mayoral elections in less than a month's time.

The vote is considered a mid-term test of Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou, who is also chairman of the Kuomintang party and who swept to power in 2008.


Read more: Anonym zu www.news.com.au/world/taiwan-sees-asias-biggest-gay-rally/story-e6frfkyi-1225945992646

Kudos to the organizers in Taiwan for taking this initiative.

Taiwan is never like Hong Kong, I should say. In Hong Kong, they banned the acceptance speech of the screenwriter to "Milk" during the Oscars! Shame!

Nice, my fellow Asians are ricing up.