Last Saturday, I took a spur of the moment day trip to
Taipei to attend the largest LGBTQ Pride Parade in Asia. This year over 130,000
people from around the world marched through Taipei’s streets, in an event that
is part celebration, part protest. This parade was especially important because
last year, Taiwan’s highest court ruled that current civil codes defining
marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman were unconstitutional. The
court declared that same-sex marriage will either be legalized automatically in
May 2019 or as soon as November 2018 by referendum.
I took the 6:00 am train from Hualien
through the mountains. I arrived in Taipei around 9:30 and took the MRT (Mass
Rapid Transit) to the 2/28 Peace Park in the Zhongzheng District. I walked
around the park, observing its ponds and pagodas and massive 2/28 memorial, and
drank coffee at a little café on Hengyang Road, before heading over to the
square where the opening rally was beginning.
2/28 Peace Park in Taipei
Before the parade began, I met up with many other Fulbright
English Teaching Assistants. All in all, almost 30 ETAS, representing all the different
cities Fulbright Taiwan serves, attended the parade together. At 2:00 pm, along
with thousands of people, we began to march through Taipei’s streets, waving
flags and dancing. For over two hours, we walked alongside trucks blaring pop
music, drag queens strutting in platform heels, and people of all ages wearing everything
from kakis and button-ups to full latex bodysuits.
It was incredible to see so many people come together to express their identities, support one another, and work towards equality. One of the main reasons I chose to come to Taiwan is because of the country’s progress and democratization in recent years. This progress is owed to the many people like those in Taipei that Saturday who have taken to the streets to demand justice and freedom throughout Taiwan’s history. I returned to Hualien at midnight that day exhausted but grateful that I could play a tiny part in this great history of pride and protest in Taiwan.
Fulbright ETAs at Pride
