Participants march under a giant rainbow flag during the LGBT Pride parade in Taipei, Taiwan on October 26, 2019. REUTERS/Eason Lam
TAIPEI, Aug 12 (Reuters) – Taiwan blamed “political considerations” for the cancellation of WorldPride 2025 Taiwan on Friday, after organizers said they had asked for the word “Taiwan” to be removed.
Taiwan participates in global organizations such as the Olympics as “Chinese Taipei” to avoid political problems with China, which views the democratically-governed island as its territory and bristles at anything that suggests it is a separate country.
The southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung was slated to host WorldPride 2025 Taiwan after winning the right from global LGBTQ rights group InterPride.
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Last year, after an uproar in Taiwan, it dropped the island’s designation as a “region,” a word that suggests it is not a country. Read also : Will sponsoring a team help my small business? Yes, and here’s why..
But Kaohsiung organizers say InterPride recently “suddenly” asked them to change the name of the event to “Kaohsiung”, removing the word “Taiwan”.
“After careful evaluation, it is believed that if the event continues, it may harm the interests of Taiwan and the Taiwanese gay community. Therefore, it is decided to end the project before signing the contract,” Kaohsiung organizers said.
InterPride did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the event would be the first WorldPride event to be held in East Asia.
“Taiwan deeply regrets that InterPride, due to political considerations, unilaterally rejected the consensus and broke the relationship of cooperation and trust to achieve this result,” he said.
“The decision not only disrespects Taiwan’s rights and responsible efforts, but also harms the wider LGBTIQ+ community in Asia and goes against the progressive principles that InterPride stands for.”
Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage in 2019, the first in Asia, and prides itself on its reputation as a bastion of LGBTQ rights and liberalism.
While same-sex relationships are not illegal in China, same-sex marriage is, and the government has cracked down on media portrayals of LGBTQ people and the community’s use of social media.
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Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry
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