Gay Parade + Baseball

choi

(1) Cain Nunns, Taiwan Gays Prouder Than Ever. Global Times, Oct 30, 2011.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispat ... pride-parade-taipei

Quote:

"But there were some glaring absences — namely, the island’s politicians, who didn't show

"On the surface, Taiwan’s gay community enjoys some of the most liberal conditions in Asia, and has been at the vanguard of the region’s gay-consciousness movement. TV programs have openly gay characters and themes and opinion polls show that about 80 percent of the public is accepting of homosexuality, up from about 60 percent a decade ago. * * * [in 2003] the military repelled the ban, making it the first Asian country to do so. Emboldened, former President Chen Shui-bien — who is now jailed on bribery charges — called for a draft bill on same-sex marriages. But many of the island’s conservative lawmakers derided the bill and it has failed to gain any real political traction since. * * * And the masked [in earlier parades] have been replaced with people wearing Mad Max leather, technicolor Cinderella and French maid outfits.

A Taiwanese gay activist says, "The other problem is there are no openly gay lawmakers in Taiwan." * * * [But a Japanese man who traveled from Kyoto to join the parade] couldn’t care less. 'There is nothing like this in Kyoto or Japan.'

Note: Tong-kwan Lighthouse Presbyterian Church
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ton ... Presbyterian_Church
(同光同志長老教會; the first Christian Church for Homosexuals in Chinese society; located in Taipei)

(2) Doug Miller, Taiwan Baseball: It's Not Just for Kids Anymore; After years of Little League dominance, country producing pros. MLB.com, Oct 30, 2011
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article. ... ws_mlb&c_id=mlb
("it's come a long way since March 1906, when the first official game was played in Taipei City")