Taipei

Ximending Red House is the heart: around twenty gay bars on the plaza around the century-old theatre, in an 'open plaza' format unique in Asia (the terraces merge into one shared courtyard). Icons: Café Dalida (classic, mixed-friendly) and Bear Bar. Open from late afternoon until 02:00-03:00 at weekends.

Da'an adds the pole of nightclubs and occasional circuit parties. Xinyi adds sophisticated cocktail bars and events in international hotels. Songshan/Minsheng is the alternative, more daytime queer circuit. Taipei mixes a tourist scene (Ximen) with a very open local LGBT culture, largely thanks to the legal and symbolic weight of marriage equality since 2019.

Taiwan Pride (台灣同志遊行) is the biggest Pride in East Asia: the October 2019 edition drew more than 200,000 participants, and the 2024 edition (26 Oct) gathered 180,000 people. It is held on the last Saturday of October, organised by the Taiwan LGBT Pride Community.

The first march took place on 1 November 2003, coinciding with the fourth Taipei Fun Festival, walking from Hengyang Road to the Red House in Ximending. The 2005 march set off from the Eslite bookshop on Dunhua South Road. Pride shares its symbolism with 24 May 2019, the day Taiwan became the first country in Asia with marriage equality. Supporting calendar: LGBT events at the Red House all year round.

Ximending (西門町, Wanhua district) is Taipei's historic LGBT area. The core: the Red House Theater plaza (西門紅樓), an octagonal building from 1908 converted into a cultural centre, whose rear plaza concentrates around twenty gay bars with continuous terraces. It is the most singular gay 'open plaza' format in Asia.

The area features prominently in every edition of Taiwan Pride (the first march, in 2003, ended here). Access: MRT Ximen (Bannan / Songshan-Xindian lines) — the station is a 2-minute walk from the Red House. Ximending combines the gay scene with Asian pop youth culture (street food, Taiwanese fashion, pedestrian alleys) — a coexistence that defines the neighbourhood's character and makes it comfortable by day and by night.

Taipei concentrates the biggest LGBT infrastructure in East Asia, helped by the most advanced legal framework on the continent. Organisations: Taiwan LGBT Pride Community (organiser of Pride since 2003), Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association (social services and helpline), GagaOOLala (LGBT streaming platform headquartered in Taipei).

Legal framework: marriage equality since 24 May 2019 (the first in Asia), joint adoption for same-sex couples since 2023, gender change without surgery recognised by the courts since 2021, though still not regulated by law, nationwide anti-discrimination in education since 2004. LGBT-friendly health services: Taipei City Hospital Renai Branch (friendly consultations and PrEP), private clinics in Da'an and Ximen, free testing programmes by the Taiwan Lourdes Association (HIV).