More than 100,000 people attended
Taiwan's annual LGBT Pride parade on Saturday.
After a strict lockdown, Taiwan has
gone 202 days without a local transmission of COVID-19, making
Saturday's parade possible, NBC News reported.
Revelers kicked off their march at
Taipei's City Hall. The parade spread across two routes.
While parade-goers celebrated LGBT
rights – Taiwan last year became the first place in Asia to
legalize same-sex marriage – the party excluded foreigners, who are
barred from traveling to Taiwan due to the pandemic.
“I hope after the pandemic is over,
people can come back to Taiwan and join us for Taipei Pride,” said
Hsu Hui-Qing, 24. “I hope every country can get things under
control soon.”
“We've made a lot of progress, and
that's great. But I hope one day LGBT in Taiwan can be treated like
anyone else,” Hsu said.
Pride month is celebrated globally in
June, but Taiwan holds its Pride Parade in October to avoid typhoon
season. Most events around the globe this year were canceled or moved
online due to the pandemic.