What Caused the Cancellation of WorldPride Taiwan 2025? Our Discussion with David Yu

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

In August the news broke that WorldPride Taiwan 2025 was no longer going to be hosted by Taiwan.

Less than a year ago, InterPride and Taiwan had celebrated the selection of Kaohsiung Pride’s bid over the Capital Pride Alliance of Washington D.C. to host WorldPride 2025 in Taiwan. The announcement about WorldPride Taiwan 2025 was hugely significant since Taiwan was the first country in Asia to legalize same sex marriage in 2019 and It would be the first ever WorldPride event to be held in East Asia.

My listeners will recall that we did an episode about this news last December with Darien Chen in episode 162.

What had happened to make Kaohsiung Pride and the Taiwan Preparation Committee decide to withdraw from hosting WorldPride Taiwan 2025?

In August I came across a tweet about the cancellation by Bi-Khim Hsiao, Taiwan’s Representative to the United States. She had tweeted an article written by David Yu, Don’t Sacrifice Taiwan in the Fight for LGBT Rights. The article had been published in Foreign Policy.

I reached out David and I invited him to come onto Talking Taiwan as a guest to discuss and reflect on what happened. David is Contractor CTO of an LA-based life sciences startup.

I also reached out to the Kaohsiung Pride committee, and InterPride for comment but have not received any responses to date.

[LISTEN to the Complete Episode?HERE?on?APPLE PODCASTS?or?SPOTIFY]

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by?NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women’s dignity,
2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,
3. to fully develop women’s potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,
4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,
5. to reach out and work with women’s organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website:?www.natwa.com

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Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

• David’s involvement with ITASA
• The article that David wrote for Foreign Policy about the cancellation of WorldPride Taiwan 2025, which was tweeted by Bi-khim Hsiao
• How Taiwan won the bid to host WorldPride 2025 in November of 2021
• How on August 12, 2022, the WorldPride Taiwan 2025 Facebook page posted an announcement stating that they would be terminating hosting WorldPride 2025
• What’s been reported in the media regarding the cancellation of WorldPride Taiwan 2025
• The statement posted on the WorldPride Taiwan 2025 Facebook page regarding their termination of hosting WorldPride 2025
• InterPride’s request that the event name be changed from WorldPride Taiwan 2025 to WorldPride Kaohsiung 2025, and the offer to use WorldPride Kaohsiung, Taiwan
• How InterPride’s application for consultative status at the United Nations and China may have influenced to request to change the WorldPride event name
• Should Kaohsiung Pride and the Taiwan Preparation Committee found a way to still host WorldPride 2025 in Taiwan
• What is the loss of not hosting WorldPride 2025 in Taiwan
• LGBTQIA rights in Europe
• Europe’s views and dealings with China
• How Guzifer Leong, Standing Director of Kaohsiung Pride (originally from Macau) was able to have his same sex marriage recognized in Taiwan, however his case does not change the precedent of Taiwan only recognizing transnational same sex marriages to citizens of countries where same sex marriage is legal
• The parallels between Taiwan’s situation in the global arena and LGBTQIA rights within mainstream society
• How China interferes with Taiwan’s representation internationally
• How Taiwan has to compete under the name Chinese Taipei in the Olympics
• David’s personal experiences at sporting events where Taiwan was not accurately represented and how he handled it
• An inspiring quote about coming out, by Harvey Milk, a gay activist and member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
• How the Gay Games 2023 is being co-hosted by Guadalajara and Hong Kong and Dennis Philipse the founder and co-organizer of Gay Games Hong Kong has resigned
• How to move forward from the cancellation of WorldPride Taiwan 2025

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Related Links:

David Yu on LinkedIn:?https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/davidscoped/

Don’t Sacrifice Taiwan in the Fight for LGBT Rights (an article from Foreign Policy by David Yu):?https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/08/18/taiwan-pride-worldpride-lgbt-rights-china/

Bi-khim Hsiao’s tweet of the article that David wrote about the cancellation of WorldPride 2025 https://twitter.com/bikhim/status/1560400362649051141?s=20&t=fqVDTwuGB3Rlq9aMXW4yVQ

Interpride's PRESS RELEASE: WORLDPRIDE 2025 BID WON BY KAOHSIUNG PRIDE IN A HISTORIC VOTE FOR THE GLOBAL AND EAST ASIAN LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITIES: https://medium.com/interpride/press-release-worldpride-2025-bid-won-by-kaohsiung-pride-in-a-historic-vote-for-the-global-and-df593dbc67eb

InterPride’s tweet in November 2021 announcing Taiwan as the host of WorldPride 2025: https://twitter.com/InterPride/status/1460562588916490241

Taiwan WorldPride 2025 Facebook page’s announcement about hostin WorldPride 2025: https://www.facebook.com/TaiwanWorldPride2025/photos/a.105715588593299/105714128593445/

Taiwan to Host 1st WorldPride in East Asia: Why That’s Important (an article from The Diplomat): https://thediplomat.com/2021/11/taiwan-to-host-1st-worldpride-in-east-asia-why-thats-important/

Statement from the Taiwan WorldPride 2025 Facebook page regarding the termination of hosting WorldPride 2025 (August 2022): https://bitly.ws/ydQv

Taiwan blames politics for cancellation of global Pride event (an article from Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-blames-politics-cancellation-global-pride-event-2022-08-12/

WorldPride Taiwan 2025 Canceled Over Name Dispute (an article from Metro Weekly): https://www.metroweekly.com/2022/08/worldpride-taiwan-2025-canceled-over-name-dispute/

Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (Taiwan) response Regarding InterPride forcing the WorldPride 2025 Taiwan Preparation Committee to cancel WorldPride 2025: https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1328&sms=273&s=98320

InterPride’s tweet suggesting using the name WorkdPride Kaohsiung, Taiwan:

https://twitter.com/interpride/status/1559247558643294212

LGBTQ RIGHTS/InterPride gave no 'Kaohsiung, Taiwan' option: WorldPride 2025 organizers (an article from Focus Taiwan): https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202208140005

Melissa Chan: https://www.melissachan.com/

Deutsche Welle: https://www.dw.com/

Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students (ITASA): https://itasa.org/

The 228 Incident/Massacre: https://228massacre.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_28_incident

https://www.taiwandc.org/228-intr.htm

2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan: https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2002korea-japan

Guzifer Is Finally Married. When Will All of Taiwan’s Same Sex Transnational Couples Be Able To?(an article from the News Lens): https://international.thenewslens.com/article/155820

League of Nations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations

What the Federal ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Actually Says (an article from Education Week): https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/what-the-federal-dont-say-gay-bill-actually-says/2022/11

Russia’s Gay propaganda law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_gay_propaganda_law

Why is Taiwan not called Taiwan at the Olympics? (an article from The Economic Times): https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/why-is-taiwan-not-called-taiwan-at-the-olympics/articleshow/89315133.cms

Why is Taiwan competing in the Olympics under ‘Chinese Taipei’? (an article from The Conversation): https://theconversation.com/why-is-taiwan-competing-in-the-olympics-under-chinese-taipei-175895

Harvey Milk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk

Gay Games Guadalajara and Hong Kong: https://gaygames.org/Gay-Games-11

Hong Kong Gay Games Founder & Co-Chair Dennis Philipse Resigns (an article from the Star Observer): https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/hong-kong-gay-games-founder-co-chair-dennis-philipse-resigns/209960

Guadalajara to co-host 2023 Gay Games with Hong Kong (an article from the Washington Blade): https://www.washingtonblade.com/2022/02/17/guadalajara-to-co-host-2023-gay-games-with-hong-kong%EF%BF%BC/

Taiwan Hosts WorldPride 2025: Our Conversation with Darien Chen and Amazin LeThi (Episode 162): https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwan-hosts-worldpride-2025-our-conversation-with-darien-chen-and-amazin-lethi-ep-162/

Joyce Teng: The Struggles Facing Couples of Same Sex Marriage in Taiwan (Episode 193): https://talkingtaiwan.com/joyce-teng-the-struggles-facing-couples-of-same-sex-marriage-in-taiwan-ep-193/

LISTEN to Episode 220: What Caused the Cancellation of WorldPride Taiwan 2025? Our Discussion with David Yu HERE

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