15th annual Pride in Taiwan draws hundreds of thousands

The 15th annual Pride parade to take place in Taipei, Taiwan, has drawn record numbers.

To celebrate the 15th annual parade, organisers estimated that 123,000 people came out on the streets.

The first Pride event took place in 2003 in Taipei.

Supporters of same-sex rights attend a gay pride parade in Taipei on October 28, 2017.
Downtown Taipei was a sea of rainbow flags and glitzy costumes on October 28 as tens of thousands marched in Asia’s largest gay pride parade, the first since Taiwan’s top court ruled in favour of gay marriage. / AFP PHOTO / SAM YEH (Photo credit should read SAM YEH/AFP/Getty Images)

At 1pm today, the parade reached its main stage on Ketagalan Boulevard.

More than 160 groups participated in Pride this year including American, Japanese and South Korean groups.

A two hour parade ended with speeches which went through until 7.30pm local time.

Taiwan LGBT Pride Community, which organises the event, used it to promote inclusive sex education.

The group says all students should have access to inclusive sex education especially including same-sex relationships.

The Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association said that better sex education will lead to more acceptance.

Also today, the Premier of Taiwan said that he intends for same-sex marriage legislation to be in the country’s parliament by the end of this year.

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