A Brighter Summer Day tells intimate stories from the LGBTQIA+ community in Taiwan in the period leading to the legalization of same sex marriage and the aftermath.
In 2017, the Taiwanese government declared unconstitutional to exclude same sex couples from marriage, giving Taiwan two years to vote for the bill and tearing the country apart.
7 millions people voted against.
On the 17th of May 2019, same sex marriage was legalized, Taiwan becoming the first country in Asia to do so. Nevertheless inequality prevails regarding adoption or marrying a foreign person.
Stigma and stereotypes are still attached to same sex relationships, and more so regarding gender issues. Gender diverse people’s existence is often hidden as gender binaries are strongly enforced.
Aiko posing in her bedroom with a unicorn, her favorite stuffed animal, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
« Being alive is a revenge in itself towards this hateful world. Be smarter, read more books so you can live a better life. Keep your romantic thoughts ; it will never be enough, especially when you’re getting older. You can think of killing yourself a hundred, even a thousand times, but if you are dead, you then lose the chance to love and to hate. So I would say cheers anyways. » AikoAiko is a 23 year old transgender woman from Nantou, a small town in the center of Taiwan. She now lives in Taipei where she just finished studying fashion design. She chose the name Aiko because she is greatly influenced by Japanese Kawai and Manga culture. Aiko's family is accepting of her trans identity, her mum even jokes around with the neighbors in her hometown saying that she had three boys but that now she has two sons and a daughter.Even though her family supports Aiko to be herself, it's still complicated for trans people to navigate the rigidity of Taiwanese society's gender roles.
Ryan cutting Tang Tang’s hair before going to work, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
« You will meet someone who will change your life when you are 25. Be patient, and take much care of him! Don’t take things the way I did; all the sadness and horrible things you have encountered are to make yourself a better person now.
Believe in yourself, be brave, then you will have a fairytale-like happy ending. » Tang Tang
Tang Tang (left) and Ryan met at the KTV for a karaoke with their co-workers. That night Ryan had not wanted to go out, he had just lost his mother and was very depressed. Dragged there by his colleagues, he spent the evening crying in a corner, with Tang Tang trying to make him feel better. They have been together for 4 years now and they recently flew to Las Vegas to get married as it remained illegal in Taiwan. They respectively work as actor and hair dresser, and have to hide their relationship in order to keep certain costumers.
Dan Yao posing in a traditional dress in their one room apartment, Taichung, Taiwan, 2019
« I think I’m meant to break the rules, these gender roles. I hate people saying that boys should do this or women should wear that. These boxes are all made by us, humans, so humans can break these rules too!
I still care a bit about what people think so I don’t want to look cheap. I want to look elegant, to be beautiful.
I want people to think he/she/they is beautiful and I want them to forget if I am a boy or a girl. » Dan Yao
Dan Yao lives in Taichung, a big city on the west coast. They make jewelry and are a make up artist in their spare time. They started to wear heels, dress and make up when they were still in school.
« Always trust yourself, and help others. The broken pieces will turn into courage. Be kind. » Wëi Yi
« Before high school I had to avoid showing my true colors regarding my sexual orientation. Before I step into art school, I had to pretend to be a straight man. I think our education doesn’t include embracing who you are, and your classmates don’t understand what it means to be gay. So it was pretty tough when I was a student. » Jay
Wëi Yi (left) and Jay met on Grinder, an app for gay men. They were chatting on internet for a month before meeting. They’ve been together for seven months. Wëi Yi is a fashion designer for men clothing, and still lives with his parents. Jay is a theatre actor and writer and recently moved into a shared appartement.
Darice at the arcade, Taipei, Taiwan, 2019
« I hope that anyone who reads my story or sees this project gets more confidence to be themselves. I’ve just turned thirty and I’m realizing more who I am now so I hope no matter your age, your gender or your orientation you can find yourself and be comfortable with it. Because even if you don’t know anyone like you, right now there is a lot of us out there. » Darice
Darice is Taiwanese American and identify as non binary, which means they don't identify as male or female. Growing up they were quite a tomboy and thought that one day they would grow to become a bearded old man, but that never happened. They learned how to perform femininity as a skill and trained for beauty pageants in America where their family moved. They learned how to wear make up, how to walk.
We met at their favorite place, an arcade in Gonguan, the student area, where they go to play a dancing game when they can't sleep.
Menu Ma and Yellow having a nap after lunch, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
« Be Brave! Never be scared to love, so that you can be a good person. » Yellow
Menu (right) and Yellow have been together for nearly three years. They went to the same university but never met because of their four years difference. They started to chat on a lesbian app and had a lot in common, especially theatre. It took a while for Menu's mother to accept the fact that her daughter was a lesbian as Menu's brother is also gay. Her first reaction when Menu came out was to ask why her kids were monsters. Since then she has come a long way and she really likes Yellow now. That day we hung out all together with the mum and I took this photo as they were having a nap after lunch. I didn't meet Menu's dad, she says it's impossible to talk to him about her sexuality.
Traditionally, kids in Taiwan will express their feelings with their mothers, not their father who still holds the role of the strict family figure. As a result, a lot of young adults only come out to their mother.
A gay friend of Menu comes to the family house often and her dad, thinking he’s straight, hopes that eventually he will marry his daughter.
Monlagine posing on her studio’s sofa, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
« My parents didn’t know I’m gay. I’m a good actor! Be brave in life to make your own decisions.
Fall in love with your courage.
Be yourself and don’t regret what you have done. » Monlagine/Johnny
Johnny was one of the first drag queen in Taiwan, a practice that became popular in the recent years. Costume designer by day, he makes his own clothes and tells stories to children while in drag. He sometimes faces aggressive behavior from the parents. When he's in drag he becomes Monlagine.
Chen and Dean chilling with their dogs on their day off, Taichung, Taiwan, 2019
'Once my parents asked me why I either seldom went home when I was off, or I only took man home. I told them, “This is it, he’s my partner. If you accept it, you will have one more son; if you don’t, you will lose two.
In my opinion, homosexuality is normal, but they were probably worried about how society perceived us, or that it might affect my career. I told them that I was out since junior high school, and I was also out in the military. The officers even asked me to consult other gay people, they thought I knew better than them; they asked me to bridge.’ Chen
Chen (left) and Dean met each other on Facebook through friends of friends. They opened a tea shop that they built and run together in Taichung. They also own a mobile phone shop in the same building, and have their bedroom on the top floor.
They got married on the 18th May, the day after same sex marriage got legalized in Taiwan. It got a lot of attention from the media, and they wanted to get married to show society it was normal. They told me that if not for this, they would probably not have gotten married as they don’t need to prove their love.
Chi Chia Wei, Taiwan’s most famous LGBTQIA+ activist, Taipei, Taiwan, 2019
« The society in the 80s in Taipei was not worse than other countries but also not really friendly; it’s basically the same everywhere in the world. However, I was the first person to discuss same sex marriage here and to bring the issue to the parliament. Therefore, Taiwan was the first country discussing same sex marriage in the parliament all over the world. I became an activist in 1986.
No matter if you are younger or older, you should face yourself and respect each other. Happiness is based on four principles : to love, to trust, to help and to forgive. If you know how to balance it you can be like me and my partner; we’ve been together for more than 30 years and even if he doesn’t come out with me I have all his supports. I won’t get married before the same sex marriage right is fully completed. » Chi Chia Wei
Chi Chia Wei is the first man in Taiwan who publicly came out as gay thirty years ago on national television, during a press conference announcing both his sexuality and his campaign for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. He started to fight for marriage equality when he was 28.
Li Ting and Jaeden after breakfast, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
Photos of Jaeden as a child, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
Li Ting and Jaeden having breakfast at Jaeden’s mothers place, where they live, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
« Trans and non binary visibility is so crucial because that’s how I got to be able to be like this with such comfort and love for my trans, queer and Asian body. Even though I want to have top surgery it doesn’t change the fact that I love my body so much. I love that it goes through all these traumas for me. And without visibility I would be so confused and frustrated. Getting to know other trans and non binary people gave me the ability to know what’s going on and have the capacity to love it. It’s very big for me personally. »
Jaeden
When I first met them, Li Ting and Jaeden (left) had only been together for a month. Li Ting is originally from Singapore and moved to Taiwan seven months ago. She is a playwriter. Jaeden is from Taipei and identifies as trans and non binary. As an English translator they were able to find a lot of ressources on internet to reflect upon their identity, which are not really available in Mandarin.
Kuang Ting and Cheng Huei on one of their rare times off together, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
« Gay men in Taiwan think that manly gay men are more popular because when we were young we were told that we should be manly, don’t act like a girl! So when we grow up we want to find someone very masculine to compensate the lack of masculinity we should have.
When I see straight guys playing basketball for example, even now I still wish I could be more like them. These big muscly American guys, competitive, real men.
But what is a real man? I still need to learn how to break this stereotype, but this is a life long challenge. » Kuang Ting
Kuang Ting (right) and Cheng Huei have been together for nine years. Cheng Huei was exhausted on their day off as he works long hours. He is in the army and doesn’t feel safe to come out to his coworkers. Kuang Ting works as a part time English teacher.
Cheng Huei only came out to his parents officially because he wanted to get married. He literally came out to his family the day before his wedding. He only told them he had a boyfriend, and they were not very surprised as they already knew he was gay. They got closer since he came out. He mentally prepared this for four years. He’s waiting an extra six months to announce to his family that he got married.
Postcards and family photographs in Kuang Ting and Cheng Huei’s living room wall , New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
Wëi Yi and Jay at a gay bar in Ximending, Taipei, Taiwan, 2019
Dan Yao doing their make up routine, Taichung, Taiwan, 2019
Tang Tang and Ryan in their bedroom, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
Tang Tang and Ryan’s rings, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2019
Ryan never took the chance to tell his mother about his sexual orientation before she passed away, even though she kept asking him and reassuring it would be ok if he was gay. But after he started dating Tang Tang he dreamt that his mother came to eat with him and gave him her blessings for their relationship. These rings have been given by Tang Tang’s family to bless their union. They keep the rings in a special place, and got matching finger tattoos as their wedding rings.
Aiko in her bedroom, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2020
I went back to visit people in Taipei in early 2020, as the pandemic was starting to spread. I catched up with Aiko. I had to catch one of the last flights back to Australia, and hope to go back as soon as possible to continue this project.