Thousands gathered in Taipei for Taiwan Pride, where Vice-President Hsiao Bi-khim looked back on two decades of advocacy and urged people to keep pushing for equal rights. This year’s theme, “Listen Together, Walk Together”, gave the parade a clear message: progress has been hard-won, but a more inclusive Taiwan still takes people moving forward side by side.

Essential Takeaways

  • A major Taipei gathering: The 24th Taiwan Pride parade began outside Taipei City Hall.
  • A 20-year reflection: Hsiao recalled an early equality bill being returned by legislators, despite advocates’ efforts to bring it forward.
  • This year’s message: “Listen Together, Walk Together” puts shared understanding and collective action at the centre.
  • More than a celebration: Hsiao said further work is needed to build a society where people can live safely and claim equal rights.
  • A colourful send-off: Politicians sang at a pre-parade event, while Hsiao waved a rainbow flag to greet marchers.

Taiwan Pride turns reflection into a call to action

Rainbow flags and a lively crowd set the scene outside Taipei City Hall as Taiwan’s 24th Pride parade got under way. But the day was about more than celebration: Vice-President Hsiao Bi-khim used her remarks to connect the event with the long, sometimes frustrating work of securing equal rights.

Hsiao looked back to a press conference held 20 years earlier, when advocates tried to bring an equality bill before the legislature. The proposal was returned, she said, yet the effort became part of a longer story of people organising and making progress one step at a time. Taiwan’s Pride organisers framed this year’s gathering around listening and walking together, an idea that gives the parade a purpose beyond its bright, joyful spectacle.

Two decades of progress, with more work ahead

Hsiao described the journey as one marked by both pain and achievement. More people have joined the parade over the years, she said, but she also stressed that there is still plenty to do to make Taiwan more respectful, equal and welcoming.

The aim, in her telling, is straightforward and deeply personal: everyone should be able to pursue equal rights and live safely and happily. That can sound like a big political ambition, but it comes down to something recognisable in everyday life: being able to make choices and feel at ease being yourself.

Why this year’s Pride theme resonates

“Listen Together, Walk Together” is a compact message, but it carries two practical ideas. Listening asks people to make space for experiences beyond their own; walking together suggests that progress depends on participation, not simply good intentions.

The theme statement gives that shared approach a place at the heart of the event. It also suits a parade that brings together people with different experiences and hopes, while asking them to share the same streets. The rainbow is vivid, of course, but the work behind it is often quieter: conversation, persistence and showing up.

A parade with music, public figures and plenty of colour

The event had its lighter moments too. Politicians joined a pre-parade gathering, where legislator Kao Chia-yu sang two songs and Taipei city councillor Lin Liang-chun performed “Rainbow”, prompting cheers from the crowd.

Hsiao later waved a rainbow flag beside Ren’ai Road and greeted people heading into the parade. Those small, visible gestures help make a political message feel close at hand. Pride can be a celebration, a public statement and a reminder that inclusion is built through everyday choices as well as landmark moments.

What Taiwan Pride’s message asks of everyone

For people following Taiwan’s equality movement, the parade offers a chance to see both how far public participation has grown and how much advocates say remains unfinished. Hsiao’s remarks linked the struggle for equal rights with the broader hope of a Taiwan where people can live with dignity, safety and confidence.

That’s a useful reminder for anyone watching from outside the march, too. Support doesn’t have to begin with grand gestures; listening carefully and treating people fairly are good places to start. A colourful parade can lift the mood, but its message carries on long after the flags come down.

It’s a brighter Taiwan when everyone can walk forward together.

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