Fridae

Taiwan will go to the polls this Saturday to elect a successor to Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party who has held office since 2000. Last month, same-sex marriage came up during a televised debate between KMT's Ma Ying-Jeou of and DPP's Frank Hsieh.

Hsiao Bi-Khim, a Taiwan legislator who left office last week, recounts her role in sponsoring a same-sex marriage bill in 2006 and explains why the LGBT community needs to get involved politically in an exclusive interview with Fridae's Philip Hwang.

For all the praise and applause following Taipei's seventh - and largest to-date - Gay Pride festival, not all is as rosy as rainbow floats and party balloons. To scratch beneath the city's seven-year itch, Fridae's Taipei correspondent Philip Hwang talks to J.J. Lai, gay rights activist and owner of the city's iconic "GinGin's Bookstore," about double-faced authorities, clashes behind the scenes, and the future of gay pride in Taipei.

Some 300 people attended a rainbow flag-raising ceremony in front of Taipei City Hall on Sunday to mark the beginning of Taipei Pride Festival. Fridae's new Taipei correspondent Philip Hwang reports.