On October 31st, the Magic Unicorn float will bring visibility to queer femme and Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) in the LGBTQ+ community, both in Taiwan and globally. Taipei Pride, which has become one of the biggest LGBTQ+ parades in Asia, will see its first float to promote the minorities often ignored.
Although the visuals around Taipei Pride usually focus on gay men, this year’s theme of “Beauty, My Own Way” will showcase all the different types of gender and sexual identities seen across Taiwan. This opportunity to see a variety of identities becomes all the more important with Taiwan’s unique global position. As the only country with not one, but two large Pride events in 2020 and offering a safe environment for large gatherings during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
Toi Windham, the organizer of the Magic Unicorn float, aims to provide a space for the queer, femme, BIPOC community to be seen and celebrated. Yet this float is in no way exclusive. It is “for all the people who are not seen and not heard,” Windham said. She aims to “unite people from diverse backgrounds and experiences to march together to support and love one another” through the float at Pride.
But who are the BIPOC/queer femme community? Both the LGBTQ+ community and racially defined groups have to constantly juggle a growing and evolving vocabulary to explain their identities. For the promotion and discussion of the Magic Unicorn float, Windham is using queer, queer femme, and BIPOC to define the people the float promotes, with “queer” referring to people both sexually queer and/or genderqueer, and “femme” being a feminine-identified person of any gender identity. BIPOC is a term popularized in the United States as an attempt to center the voices of Black and Indigenous people, who are often underrepresented as minorities. In addition, LGBTQ+ is being used as an inclusive way to refer to the larger community that do not identify as heterosexual or cisgender.
These labels are not always perfect and the language around LGBTQ+ identity in Taiwan has been westernized due to the borrowing of English terms, as there is sometimes no equivalent in Chinese. Thankfully the narrative and language is being redefined, as seen by the recent book, What Binary? A collection of genderqueer stories from the Taiwan Non Binary community.
Although the BIPOC community might seem small and insignificant to the wider LGBTQ+ community in Taiwan, it is important to consider the origin of a large portion of the queer culture and language that is used within the wider community. Much of the Western drag (queen) scene found in the clubs in Taiwan has its roots in the Black American ballroom scene originating in 1920s Harlem. Then the Taipei Pride rally occurred this summer on the 51st anniversary of Stonewall. But was the history of the Black and Latinx community who were essential to the liberation movement acknowledged?
Globally there have been indigenous cultures, including those in Taiwan, that have had the language and concepts for a spectrum of gender identities.Culture that has been nearly eradicated due to colonialism. Thankfully, indigenous groups across the world are reclaiming practices that embrace multi-gendered people and same-sex unions. In Taiwan, the Adju Festival, an indigenous-led music festival, celebrated gender diversity and queer identity.
Furthermore, for queer or femme people of any racial identity, the patriarchal structure of many cultures has deemed anyone female or feminine lesser than their male/masculine counterparts. This can be seen with how gay men dominate the LGBTQ+ scene. In the imagery for most events, whether it’s promotional footage or the attending audience, it’s usually overwhelmingly male.
Yet Taiwan is becoming more progressive, which is being recognized on a worldwide scale. Taiwanese activist Chi Chia-Wei was included in Time Magazine’s top 100 most influential people of 2020. Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage last year, which helped to normalize LGBTQ+ individuals.
The organizers of Taipei Pride see the work that still needs to be done to make everyone feel safe and seen with their true identities in Taiwan. “Beauty, My Own Way” is the theme of Taipei Pride 2020, a theme to encourage individuals to find their identity, rather than conforming to standards set by society, to empower people to embrace themselves instead of fitting into uncomfortable boxes. Taipei Pride is celebrating all people, but shining a spotlight on the LGBTQ+ community. Likewise, Windham and the Magic Unicorn float is celebrating everyone, but specifically the people often unseen.
When Windham co-organized the Black Lives Matter Solidarity Rally this June alongside the other members of the Black Lives Solidarity Global Initiative, Jean-Paul Weaver (she/her/hers), a Haitian-American organizer in Taiwan, encouraged Windham to argue the case for indigenous people to be included in the Solidarity Rally. They both believe any discussion around race in Taiwan needs to consider the indigenous groups here. This is another example of Black queer women fighting against multiple types of marginalization, not just Black discrimination.
After attending Taipei Pride multiple times, Windham decided that this year she could create a space for herself, her friends, and her diverse community. Realizing that the float was a conceivable possibility, it became apparent for her that she needed to define a purpose for the Magic Unicorn float that goes beyond her own social circle. “This float will increase visibility for the queer BIPOC and queer femme on the national and global stages, to show people around the world that we exist and that our stories and narratives matter,” Windham said. Although the queer BIPOC community in Taiwan is relatively safe, globally people within these groups often experience disproportionate violence and death rates.
The Magic Unicorn float will make history at Taipei Pride this year and will show the world how Taiwan values equality for all. Taipei Pride will take place at 2pm on October 31st. The Magic Unicorn float will travel along the north route, starting at Taipei City Hall and traveling along Zhongxiao East Road. Attendees are advised to maintain social distancing while at the parade and whenever impossible to wear a face mask.
(Feature photo by Ellery Hamann)
- Representing the Underrepresented at Taipei Pride 2020 - October 29, 2020