Taiwan blames politics for cancellation of global Pride event
Taiwan participates in global organizations like the Olympics as "Chinese Taipei," to avoid political problems with China, which views the self-governing democratic island as its own territory and bristles at anything that suggests it is a separate country.
Taiwan's southern city of Kaohsiung had been due to host WorldPride 2025 Taiwan, after winning the right from global LGBTQ rights group InterPride.
Last year after an outcry in Taiwan, it dropped a reference to the island as a "region."
But the Kaohsiung organizers said InterPride had recently "suddenly" asked them to change the name of the event to "Kaohsiung," removing the word "Taiwan."
"After careful evaluation, it is believed that if the event continues, it may harm the interests of Taiwan and the Taiwan gay community. Therefore, it is decided to terminate the project before signing the contract," said the Kaohsiung organizers.
InterPride said in a statement they were "surprised to learn" the news and while they were disappointed, respected the decision.
"We were confident a compromise could have been reached with respect to the long-standing WorldPride tradition of using the host city name. We suggested using the name 'WorldPride Kaohsiung, Taiwan'," it added.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said the event would have been the first WorldPride event to be held in East Asia. Read More…
