(Central News Agency reporter Yang Mingzhu, Tokyo, 21st) Japan’s largest LGBTQ event “Tokyo Rainbow Pride”, which lasted for three consecutive days, held a parade today, with about 15,000 people participating, including the Taiwanese team. Many ambassadors to Japan took the stage to deliver speeches. Representative Hsieh Chang-ting said, “Taiwan is the only country in Asia where same-sex marriage is legal,” which received warm applause from participants.
“Tokyo Rainbow Pride” marks its 30th anniversary this year. The theme is “Don’t give up until change happens.” It will be held at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo from the 19th to today. Today in Shibuya District, Tokyo The parade was the climax of the event. The organizer said that the number of participants this time was 15,000, a new high, and the number of participating booths was also the largest in history.
The Taiwan Red Ribbon Foundation, a legal person from Taiwan, and the Taiwan Partnership Rights Promotion Alliance, a non-governmental organization, formed a Taiwanese team to participate in the event. During the parade, the team was led by Tu Xingzhe, chairman of the Taiwan Red Ribbon Foundation. The Taiwan team launched a Taiwanese-style float, led by “Extraordinary Girl” (Taiwanese drag queen Baibai Cosplay), Japanese actor Chen Guang, and Tokyo Shinjuku and Ueno Gay bar internet celebrities and others took the lead.
Hsieh Chang-ting, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and other ambassadors to Japan were invited to the Yoyogi Park stage venue to deliver speeches and take photos before the parade. Hsieh Chang-ting and Emanuel took a photo side by side.
Hsieh Chang-ting was arranged to deliver a speech in Japanese before Emmanuelle’s speech. He said: “Taiwan is the only country in Asia where same-sex marriage is legal. Although it has a history of only five years and is relatively short compared to European and American countries such as Denmark and the United States, it has more than There are 10,000 same-sex couples registered for marriage, and about 400 of them are foreign marriages. Now in Taiwan, diversity of marriage and diversity of love are respected as one of the important human rights.”
Hsieh Chang-ting said: “At the beginning, the proportion of Taiwan’s support for same-sex marriage was only 30%, but now it has risen to 62%, which is a great improvement. I believe that if it can succeed in Taiwan, it can also succeed in Asia, especially Japan.” As soon as these words came out, the audience burst into warm applause.
Emmanuel expressed in his speech that he supports the freedom and equality of marriage, and hopes that all countries can support same-sex marriage through the improvement of domestic laws and regulations, and formulate legal provisions that are based on love and should be inclusive rather than exclusive.
He said that supporting same-sex marriage does not just rely on the one-day event of “Tokyo Rainbow Pride”, but that everyone must work hard every day. He hopes that everyone will continue to struggle based on equality and enthusiasm.
Japan is currently the only country among the Group of Seven major industrialized countries (G7) that does not recognize same-sex marriage. Some same-sex couples are asking the Japanese government to legally recognize same-sex marriage. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will implement the “Tokyo Metropolitan Partnership Oath System” from November 1, 2022. However, same-sex couples who hold this certificate are still discriminated against by the civil law, household registration law, etc., so they filed a lawsuit against the government.
The Tokyo District Court ruled on March 14 that many existing laws and regulations that do not recognize same-sex marriage, including Japan’s Civil Code, are “unconstitutional.” (Editor: Zhou Yongjie) 1130421
