《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taipei schedules series of Pride Month events

By Tsai Ya-hua and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taipei is marking Pride Month this month with a series of activities, starting with “rainbow” bus tours set to begin tomorrow and finishing with a weekend of light shows outside Taipei City Hall starting on Oct. 28, the Taipei City Government said on Wednesday.

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Officials made the announcement at a news conference held atop a “rainbow road” that has been painted on a stretch of pavement in the plaza in front of Taipei City Hall, similar to the Rainbow Sixthat adorns the crosswalk in front of Ximen MRT Station Exit 6.

The public has been enthusiastic about Rainbow Six, so to show the city’s embrace of gender diversity, it was decided to paint a second rainbow next to city hall, Taipei Department of Information and Tourism Commissioner Liu Yi-ting （劉奕霆） said, adding that the it would be the starting point of the Pride Parade on Oct. 31

There is still a lot of work to be done to achieve LGBT and gender equality, but officials and Taipei City Council members would do everything in their power to support LGBT causes to show that the city cares, Liu said.

The city has invested nearly NT$5 million （US$ 171,668） in the program, the department said.

A total of 17 “rainbow” bus tours are scheduled, which would highlight key LGBT attractions in the city, including 228 Peace Memorial Park and the Red House in Ximending （西門町）.

Drag queens, the YouTubers Caca&Bella and FuFuKnows, and Weary World （厭世姬）, the artist behind the Zoo of Depression comic, would accompany the tours, the department said, adding that tickets could be purchased on KKday.

Participants would receive a gift set that includes a limited-edition sports towel, a traditional shopping bag, Bravo the Bear facial mask set, a notebook and a set of Zoo of Depression stickers, the department said, adding that the first 300 people to buy tickets would also receive a Da Chun’s Soap gift set worth more than NT$800.

A five-minute Color Taipei Rainbow Light Show is to be held every 30 minutes between 6pm and 10pm on Oct. 29 and 30, and from 7 to 10pm on Oct. 31, and the shows would combine local elements with a rainbow theme set, the department said.

The department commissioned Weary World to design a 1.2m by 1.4m statue based on the theme “fundamental [chicken] rights” （雞本人權） that would be erected in front of city hall in the coming weeks.

The artist said that she was excited by the opportunity, and the placement of her work, which would allow passersby to photograph her statue and the rainbow road together.

Information on the Pride Month events can be found at the department’s Web site, Travel Taipei.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES