An international LGBTQ gathering in Taiwan has been canceled after global organizers called for the self-governing island’s name to be removed from the 2025 event. Taiwan on Friday blamed “political reasons” for the cancellation of WorldPride 2025 Taiwan, after it said organizers had insisted that the name “Taiwan” be removed from the title. Taiwan participates in global events such as the Olympics as the “Chinese Taipei” to avoid political trouble with China, which regards the democratically-ruled island as its own territory and fights anything that suggests it is a separate country. The city of Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan, was set to host WorldPride 2025 in Taiwan after winning the right from global LGBTQ rights group InterPride. Organizers in Kaohsiung said InterPride “suddenly” asked them to change the name of the event to “Kaohsiung”, removing the word “Taiwan”. “After careful evaluation, it is believed that if the event continues, it may harm the interests of Taiwan and Taiwan’s gay community. Therefore, it is decided to terminate the project before the contract is signed,” the Kaohsiung organizers said. Taiwan’s foreign ministry said on Friday that the event would be the first WorldPride event to be held in East Asia and would promote regional diversity and equality. “Taiwan deeply regrets that InterPride, for political reasons, unilaterally rejected the mutually agreed consent and broke a relationship of cooperation and trust, leading to this result,” the ministry said. “The decision not only disrespects Taiwan’s rights and diligent efforts, it also harms Asia’s vast LGBTIQ+ community and goes against the progressive principles that InterPride stands for.” InterPride did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The WorldPride committee said it made the decision “in the best interest of the LGBTIQ+ community in Taiwan” and that the members would resign their positions. Taiwan is at the forefront of a growing gay rights movement. It legalized same-sex marriage in 2019, the first in Asia, and is proud of its reputation as a bastion of LGBTQ rights and liberalism. The island is home to a thriving LGBTQ community, and a record 200,000 people attended a Pride march in Taipei in 2019 to celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage. While same-sex relationships are not illegal in China, same-sex marriage is, and Beijing has cracked down on media portrayals of LGBTQ people and the community’s use of social media. Last year, after an outcry in Taiwan, InterPride withdrew a reference to the island as a “region”, wording that suggests it is not a country.
