Tens of thousands of people on Saturday
helped celebrate Taiwan's 10th annual Gay Pride parade.
The parade was colorful but also
political.
“The theme this year is to fight for
equal rights on marriage,” Mu Chuan, one of the event's organizers,
is quoted as saying by the AFP. “Gay people are also tax-paying
citizens and we demand the same basic right as any heterosexual
couples.”
Revelers marched through the streets of
Taipei waving signs which read “marriage” and “equal rights.”
“Even though marriage is a very
personal choice, I think gay people should not be stripped of the
right to choose to get married,” said
Mi Feng, a software programmer.
Kongpaphop Panya, a doctor from
Thailand, added: “I just want to tell the world we have the right
to love equally like others.”
An estimated 65,000 people marched in
the parade, which set off from the presidential office on Ketagalan
Boulevard.
Celebrities taking part included Hong
Kong singer Anthony Wood and singer-songwriter Matthew Lien.
Gay rights activists in Taiwan say they
hope to submit a marriage equality bill to parliament next year.