Hundreds joined a march in Taipei, making it one of the few places in the world to proceed with such an event during the coronavirus pandemic.
With the coronavirus pandemic making large gatherings impossible in many places, the biggest Pride events around the globe were mostly forced to scale back or move online.
But a march that drew hundreds of people in Taiwan on Sunday became both a celebration of diversity and a testament to the self-governing island’s ability to contain the coronavirus.
A giant rainbow flag led a procession across Liberty Square, a large plaza in central Taipei, in an event that Darien Chen, one of the organizers, said he hoped would bring comfort to the millions of people around the world who could not attend a big gathering because of the pandemic.
Few participants wore masks, as Taiwan has only five known coronavirus cases, all of them in quarantine. Taiwan, which has a population of 23 million, has recorded only 446 infections and seven deaths since its first case was reported in January.
After traveling across the square, marchers posed with a rainbow flag in front of a memorial to Chiang Kai-shek, the authoritarian ruler who brought martial law to Taiwan after fleeing Mao Zedong’s communist revolution in China in 1949. Mr. Chen screamed expletives at Chiang’s statue until going hoarse, as a small number of police officers watched.
