Taipei mayor gets angry reception at Pride parade after gay bar raid

TAIPEI- Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, in a close race for re-election, got an angry reception on Saturday when he briefly showed up for Taiwan's packed annual Pride parade, following a police raid on a city gay bar earlier this month.

The raid struck a nerve in Taiwan, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2019 in a first for Asia and is proud of its reputation as a bastion of LGBTQ+ rights in a region where they are often repressed.

More than 170,000 people joined Saturday's parade, which is east Asia's largest Pride event.

Chiang, from the opposition Kuomintang party and who has previously expressed his support for the LGBTQ+ community, arrived at the end of the parade and stayed for only around 15 minutes.

He was met with shouts of "don't raid gay bars" and noisy calls of support for his main opponent, Puma Shen of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

"I already said this earlier: I apologise for the impact on those affected," Chiang told reporters. "So on this matter, we will conduct a rigorous investigation and impose immediate discipline."

He then posed for pictures with a few supporters as he left, surrounded by reporters and security with protesters continuing to shout.

THIS YEAR'S THEME REVISED AFTER RAID

Alan Chang, 30, said it was "ridiculous and unbelievable" that such a raid could have even happened.

"This is a country and a city that emphasises gender equality and our mayor would condone this?" he added.

Shen, who some opinion polls have put ahead of Chiang, appeared at a different part of the rally where he was warmly greeted by the crowd.

Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim led the DPP's delegation to Pride, while President Lai Ching-te wrote on his Facebook page that nobody should feel fear because of who they are.

"This respect must also be reflected in every exercise of public authority," Lai added.

Pride organisers revised this year's theme after the raid.

The police search "reawakened the historical trauma of sexually and gender-diverse communities long subjected to oppression by state authorities", they said in a statement this week.

Taipei police raided the Commander D bar in the city's main gay neighbourhood of Ximen this month and took 51 people in for questioning and arrested the owner.

Some were detained for more than six hours after police accused them of violating a law that prohibits "wantonly exposing one's naked body or presenting a lascivious posture in a public place."

Reporting by Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Susan Fenton/Reuters