Tens of thousands of people took part
in Saturday's LGBT Pride parade in Taipei, Taiwan.
According to the
AP, nearly 13,000 people attended this year's march, the largest
in Asia.
The huge demonstration comes roughly a
month before voters head to the polls to decide how to implement a
May 2017 ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.
(Related: Taiwan
high court approves gay marriage.)
Taiwan's Constitutional Court gave the
government two years to extend marriage rights to gay and lesbian
couples.
Opponents of marriage equality have
proposed creating a separate marriage law for gay couples. In
response, LGBT activists put forward a referendum proposing that
Taiwan's marriage laws be amended to include same-sex couples. Also
on the ballot is a question on same-sex education in schools.
Parade-goers waved rainbow flags and
held placards which read “love is equal” and “vote for a happy
future.”
“I support the referendums because
marriage equality is a basic human right that nobody should be
deprived of and gender equality education at school is crucial to
prevent discrimination and bullying,” Chen Yu-fang, a homemaker,
was quoted as saying by Aljazeera.
“We will use our vote to tell Tsai
Ing-wen's government that people want marriage equality,” said
Miao Poya, an LGBT activist.
Twenty-six-year-old drag queen
performer Chin Kuang-chih said it was “a pity” that the
government has made little progress on the issue, despite the court
ruling.