wfn.org | Taiwan stages LGBT Pride parade on October 31

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3010 Edition

>November 2~8, 2009

>Taiwan stages LGBT pride parade on October 31

>Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

>Written by Lydia Ma

A LGBT parade themed “Love Out Loud” took place in  Taiwan on October 31st. This year’s

parade route began on the doorsteps of the Presidential Palace on  Ketagalan Boulevard and

passed by 228 Memorial Park, Ximending (an area that has  traditionally been seen as

homosexual-friendly), Taipei Train Station, before turning back to  the Presidential Palace.

The parade opened amid much fanfare as marchers were divided into  seven groups, each

representing one color of the rainbow. It was estimated that more  than 20,000 people

attended the parade, making it the biggest LGBT parade ever in  Asia.

“The emphasis of Christianity is love, so, we must emphasize  that God truly loves gays,” said

former PCT headquarters R&D staff Rev. Chang Mao-Jen, who attended  the rally and rode on

one of the cars directing the procession. Chang said that while  many churches today still have

many misunderstandings about homosexuality, there are also groups  of Christians who are

willing to participate in gay pride parades because they believe  God loves gays. They also

feel their participation can encourage and help gays.

Elias Tseng, former pastor of Tong-Kuang Lighthouse Presbyterian  Church, an independent

Presbyterian Church not affiliated with the PCT, said that such a  huge parade is the result of

years of social activism. However, though gays and lesbians may  stage a huge parade once a

year, they live out the rest of the year in secrecy and often  cannot fit in with the rest of society

because they feel compelled to suppress their sexual orientation  to avoid discrimination or

being accused of disturbing social peace. Their circumstances have  prompted gay activists to

call attention to the human rights of homosexual people and speak  out on their behalf.

According to one elder at Tong-Kuang, a church for gays and  lesbians, the Bible doesn’t

oppose homosexuality and love is born out of acceptance. The  church will continue to

shepherd its congregation and help them understand and mature in  their Christian faith. He

said the church, like all other Christian churches, teaches and  encourages faithfulness to one’s

>partner.

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