Rainbow flag to
grace Taipei city hall

Civic officials sponsoring a gay festival in Taipei, Taiwan, will hoist the rainbow flag September 17 above the city hall in what they term a first for an Asian city, the Taipei Times reports. The annual "LGBT Civil Rights Movement--Queer-friendly Taipei" has been hosted since 2000 by the city's Department of Civil Affairs, with an annual budget of about $30,000.

Yeh Jie-sheng, deputy chief of the department, said the city sponsors the event to stress its respect for minority groups and cultural diversity. "Conservative and religious groups have been criticizing the event, and we welcome different opinions. We will invite these groups this year to discuss issues of gay rights together," he told reporters last week at city hall.

Wang Ping, secretary-general of the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association in Taiwan, which is helping organize the festival, told the Times that events will include the flag-raising ceremony--the first of its kind in Asia--on the morning of September 17, followed by gay rights forums that afternoon in the city council chamber and an art exhibition later in the month.

A pride parade is planned for September 30, with a collective same-sex wedding ceremony immediately following. Local Christian groups have spread rumors that the city is sponsoring the nuptials. Officials deny this, saying the department will not promote same-sex marriage before it becomes legal.

Nelson Chen, chairman of Taiwan's Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, who received Yeh's blessing when he wed his partner last year in a public ceremony, praised the city's gestures to the gay community but resented attitudes he termed "hypocritical."

"Last year the department sent a flower basket to my wedding as a blessing. Now it says that it doesn't support gay marriage when confronted by conservative groups," he told the Times. (The Advocate)