Chi Chia-wei 祁家威
Born in 1958, Chi Chia-wei has been a social activist since 1975 and has advocated for recognition of same-sex unions, as well as education and prevention of the spread of AIDS/HIV.
Victoria Hsu 許秀雯
Victoria Hsu is a lawyer as well as Co-founder and CEO of Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR), which is one of the most important LGBT organizations in Taiwan. Her activity has been key in the legalization of same-sex unions.
Lai Cheng-che 賴正哲
Born in 1966, Lai Chen-che is an important LGBT activist and he founded the first LGBT culture shop in Asia called the Gin Gin Store in 1999.
Josephine Chuen-juei Ho 何春蕤
Born in 1951, Josephine Chuen-juei Ho, is a scholar at the National Central University, Taiwan, and coordinator of its Centre For the Study of Sexualities. She has withstood lawsuits directed at her outspokenness on gender and human rights issues. In 2005, she was selected as one among thousands of women from all over the world who were collectively nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is known as “the godmother of the Taiwanese queer movement.”
Yu Mei-nu 尤美女
Born in 1955, Yu Mei-nu is a Taiwanese politician and a member of the Democratic Progressive Party since 2012. She is known for her advocacy on Women’s rights and legislation towards same-sex unions.
Hsu Yu-sheng 許佑生
Born in 1961, Hsu Yu-sheng is a Taiwanese author and sexologist.
In 1996, he gained media attention by being the first person to publicly marry his same-sex partner in Asia when same-sex marriage was still not legal. Since then, he has attended hundreds of interviews to speak about homosexuality and LGBT rights.
Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
700 Granville Street, Vancouver (Nordstrom)
I couldn’t see why I was different but I knew I was.
I was told boys should be boyish.
And girls should be girlish.
I was told a boy would fall in love with a girl.
And a girl would fall in love with a boy.
Just like all fairytales were written.
I was told marriage is only between a man and a woman.
I was told not having your own child would bring shame to your family.
I was told marriage is forever.
And love… is forever.
I knew I was different.
My upbringing, my traditions and my culture had pitted me against myself.
My identity is inappropriate and is a sin.
But what have I done… other than being my authentic self?
I didn’t want to be different.
I denied my own identity to embody what they said I should be for my parents and society, to please others.
I tried to be that perfect person everyone sees.
So I was lost…
Lost in my own identity,
So I was defeated…
Defeated by my own fear.
I thought I would never love anyone.
And no one would love me.
Just like all fairytales were written.
Moreover, I stopped loving myself.
The feeling of guilt that I would disappoint the people I love and the people that love me
had eaten me alive… every minute, every hour and every day.
For the longest time, I was hidden in the deep darkness, and through a peephole, watching that person who looks like me take over my life.
I couldn’t breathe.
And my heart … was torn apart.
Until this moment,
The moment I don’t have to question my identity and be proud of the person I am.
Until this moment,
The moment I finally had the courage to shout out the words that were buried in my heart for years.
I realize this is the moment I have been always waiting for,
I realize I can say, “Yes, I will.”
Just like anybody else.
Until this moment,
I realize why I am different.
(Taiwan, Thank you for the courage.)
