What comes to your mind when you think of gay pride parades? Topless guys with six pack abs and guys in speedo with strong torsos waving at you with a perfect smile. Over the years, public body exposure seems to have become a trademark in every gay pride parade. From promotional posters to official websites, images of guys confidently showcasing their body occupy most of the spaces. While it may not be a big deal in western countries, it has stirred some fierce debates in more conservative societies like Taiwan.

Although Taiwan Gay Pride has entered its 12th year, the general public still seems to have trouble getting used to having a massive crowd of topless guys in colorful Speedos marching through the streets. Many of them choose to bear with it because it is the once a year’s carnival occasion to them. However, every society has a group of moral defenders whose mission is to safeguard the traditional social values from the challenges posed by new cultural practices. Taiwan is no exception from that. Its group of moral fighters have been working hard to prevent Taiwanese society from falling to the invasion of foreign cultural practices.

It all started with the proposal of Taiwan’s civil partnership bill, which is aiming to grant marriage rights to LGBT couples. While this idea immediately received popular supports from Taiwan’s younger generation, a group called Taiwan Family Preservation Union decided to take up the task of preserving traditional marriages in Taiwan. They started to publicized biased beliefs about the LGBT community and Taiwan Gay Pride became one of their prime targets. The Pride’s scantily clad participants became their scapegoat. Accusing the Pride for attempting to loosen sexual morality in Taiwan by encouraging participants to publicly expose their bodies. To them, these acts of mass body exposure have reached a level of obscenity. However, the organizers of the Taiwan Gay Pride emphasize that the parade’s goal is to encourage self-expression through the showcasing personal body image. The Pride organizers that suggest conservatives rationalize the situation based on facts. A simple act of self-expression should have never been distorted into an act of intentional obscenity.

In the end, it all comes down to personal interpretation of public body exposure. For the younger generation including myself, it is the occasion that defines the act. In the case of gay pride parades, marchers expose their body parts in public to proudly celebrate LGBT culture and their queer identity. To them, it is a rare occasion where they can completely speak up about themselves without worrying about malice backlash from society rather than intentionally provoking the society at large. These LGBT individuals merely hope to attract the general public’s attention and share their ideas, culture and lifestyles with them. While conservatives may keep emphasizing the negative influence stemming from public body exposure, the LGBT community should not compromise this tradition so easily. After all, it is one of the more effective ways to get people’s attention and let them hear what we have to say. As long as the act does not go overboard, it should continue to be the widely practiced tradition in gay pride parades.

This past weekend saw the rainbow flags back in town when Taiwan held its 12th Gay Pride Parade in Taipei. With efforts from previous years, Taiwan Gay Pride has become an iconic LGBT event in Asia that attracted around 80,000 across the country and the world to participate in the parade this year. This year’s parade focuses on encouraging members of the LGBT community to learn about each other’s differences through embracing sexuality with a more open-minded attitude. In addition to the continuous effort to educate the general public about LGBT culture, the parade organizers think that different factions within the LGBT community also need to strengthen their mutual understanding. In other words, the dialogue about LGBT culture and sexuality needs to be redefined.

Taiwan’s LGBT rights movement was initiated from conservative social and cultural environment where the idea of homosexuality was rarely at the center of discussion. In its early years, it had to bridge existing barriers and introduce the unfamiliar idea of homosexuality to the Taiwanese society. Their mission is about establishing a fair and comprehensive understanding and meaning of sexuality in the Taiwanese social context. Their achievements became obvious when Taiwan was gradually recognized as the very few countries with an open-minded attitude toward LGBT culture. However, this does not help to completely clear up stereotypes associated with the LGBT community. HIV and STD continue to be regarded as gay men’s disease while LGBT individuals still face different kinds of discrimination. This may make us doubt on whether efforts from previous years will all end up in vain. It seems obvious that the LGBT rights movement fails to produce a public image that can represent all members of the community, and that further contributes to the fragmented understanding that the general public holds. The LGBT rights movement needs an internal remodeling in order to overcome existing stereotypes.

Thanks to a group of dedicated lawmakers who recognize the LGBT community’s need for a common ground, a proposal for a same-sex marriage bill is presented to the public. This quickly sparked strong opinion from both ends of the spectrum. The bill offers the LGBT rights movement a common ground to present a public image that encompasses the shared wish of the LGBT community. The community is now united under one simple wish, the right to get married legally. Banners bearing slogans calling for civil partnership can be seen throughout the procession of the 12th Taiwan Gay Pride. The civil partnership bill also simplifies issues surrounding the LGBT community for the general public. While defenders of traditional marriage continue to publicize false beliefs about LGBT culture and how it could endanger the traditional marriage values, for the first time, the LGBT community is given a channel to share its thoughts and ideas to the general public directly. Their arguments became simpler and more concentrated. Most importantly, it reflects the simple desire of the LGBT community to acquire rights that are enjoyed by the rest of society.

The new focus on equal rights and fair treatment helps to redirect the discussion about LGBT culture toward a less complicated path. The general public should realize that LGBT individuals in Taiwan are not asking for more than what the rest of them have been enjoying. The dialogue initiated by the LGBT community is aiming to create an equal social environment where LGBT individuals can coexist with the rest of society without suffering from any discriminatory treatment. It is about harmonious coexistence, and not fierce confrontation.