TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 20th annual Taiwan LGBT+ Pride celebration will be held on Saturday (Oct. 29) and Taipei City Hall Plaza will serve as the centerpoint for activities.

Pride will begin at noon with the opening of the Rainbow Market, where several dozen domestic and international organizations who support LGBT rights will set up their booths. Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase their products and learn about their work.

The first half of the Pride show will begin at 1 p.m. and will include a mixture of performers and speakers, focusing on various aspects of Pride and the event’s history. The parade itself will begin at 2 p.m., with two routes departing from Taipei City Hall.

Both routes will begin their trek down Renai Road, before splitting into a north loop and south loop, eventually reuniting back at Taipei City Hall Plaza. The second half of the show will begin at 4:50 p.m., after most of the parade participants have returned, with official Pride activities wrapping up around 7 p.m.

Singer-songwriter Sandee Chan, who has been an LGBT rights activist for 20 years, will headline Taiwan LGBT+ Pride as this year’s "Rainbow Ambassador."

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Taiwan LGBT+ Pride, the Taiwan Rainbow Civil Action Association (TWRCAA), the volunteer group tasked with planning Pride every year since 2012, decided on “An Unlimited Future” as this year’s theme. They wanted to organize a Pride that reflects on the past while keeping the focus on the future of LGBT rights in Taiwan.

Per the TWRCAA website, this year’s theme is about advancing the legal rights of the LGBT community in Taiwan, while also challenging preconceived notions of sexuality and gender.

Although the passage of same-sex marriage in 2019 was a major milestone, Pride 2022 is trying to shine a light on the sociopolitical inequalities LGBT individuals still face in Taiwan, especially with family services like adoption, In vitro fertilization (IVF), and cross-national marriages. In addition to increasing legal protections, the TWRCAA is also calling for cultural change and reconfiguring relationship ideals to extend beyond the image of a monogamous, heterosexual marriage with children.

According to TWRCAA Public Relations Team Leader Brian Cragun, the TWRCAA also hopes Pride 2022 emphasizes the importance of groups that are often underrepresented in discussions of LGBT rights, including the transgender community, people with disabilities, and female and family rights organizations. To that end, Cragun said, the TWRCAA has worked with these organizations throughout the planning process.

Although Cragun said the TWRCAA is hoping to welcome international visitors to this weekend’s Pride now that many COVID-19 travel restrictions have been lifted, the status of travel was uncertain throughout most of the planning process. As such, this year’s event places more emphasis on Taiwan itself than many previous years.

“Taiwan, over these 20 years, has been an inspiration throughout Asia, especially to other countries who didn’t have the organization or didn’t have the ability to organize a Pride in years past,” Cragun said. “We’ve seen them be able to start organizing their own events, and a lot of them cite Taiwan as a source of inspiration. There’s a lot of Taiwan pride in Taiwan Pride this year.”

In addition to the Pride events on Saturday, “Walk with Pride,” a 20th anniversary retrospective exhibition on Taiwan LGBT+ Pride, will remain open at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park until Nov. 6. The Taiwan Trans March, an additional transgender pride parade organized by the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, will take place on Friday (Oct. 28), departing from Ximen Red House Square at 6:30 p.m.