Gay Taipei -a quickie guide to bars, cafes, and nightlife | LGBTQ+ Destinations | Scoop.it

Several months ago, a United Airlines agent gave me some trouble checking in because she thought that Taipei was in the Middle East.  It’s a shame that many Americans have no idea what contemporary Taiwan is like, or even what region of the world it’s located in.  For gay men especially, Taiwan should be a priority destination.  When I asked my retired French professor at the National Taiwan University why he moved to Taipei, he told me that in the 1970s he moved here because “Taipei was more gay friendly than Paris.”  Taiwan is at the forefront of the LGBT movement in Asia.  The island hosted our first gay pride parade and officially recognized the first LGBT organization in east-Asia.  Just recently a Buddhist monastery sanctioned the island’s first same-sex wedding.