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Thousands march in first gay parade

Published:Saturday | October 28, 2017 | 12:00 AM
AP
Participants revel through a street during a gay and lesbian parade in Taipei, Taiwan, yesterday. Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage on May 24, 2017, making the island the first place in Asia to recognise gay unions.

Taipei (AP):

A sea of rainbow flags and glitzy costumes filled downtown Taipei as tens of thousands marched in Asia's largest gay pride parade the first since Taiwan's top court ruled in favour of gay marriages.

The island looks set to become the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage after the constitutional court said in May that laws preventing same-sex unions violated the guarantee of freedom of marriage. It gave the government two years to implement the decision.

The anticipation was felt in yesterday's parade as dancing crowds in colourful wigs and sequined outfits made their way through the capital's centre alongside vans blasting music.

Taiwan LGBT Pride Commu-nity, the organiser of the parade, estimated that a record 123,000 people from more than 20 countries participated in the parade.