Taiwan LGBT Pride

Taiwan Pride is the biggest LGBTQ+ march in East Asia, and the one the rest of the region watches. The first parade, on 1 November 2003, drew somewhere between 500 and 1,000 people depending on which report you trust, many of them in masks so they wouldn't be recognised. In 2019, the year Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, the count passed 200,000. It is organised by the Taiwan Rainbow Civil Action Association (臺灣彩虹公民行動協會).

The march is held on the last Saturday of October. There is no registration and no ticket: you go to the gathering area at Taipei City Hall Plaza, find a contingent or just join the crowd, and walk. The parade splits into a northern and a southern route that both loop back to the plaza, so plan on a long afternoon on your feet. Contingents run from university clubs and Indigenous groups to migrant workers, people living with HIV, disability groups and corporate floats, and the speeches at the plaza are part of the day, not an add-on. October is busy with talks, screenings and club parties, and the bars around the Red House in Ximending are packed all weekend.