Gay Guide
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About LGBTQ+ Taipei
On 24 May 2017 Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that excluding same-sex couples from the Civil Code was unconstitutional, and gave the government two years to fix it. In November 2018 a national referendum went the other way, with around two thirds voting against putting marriage in the Civil Code at all. The legislature threaded the gap with a separate enforcement act, passed on 17 May 2019 with tens of thousands of people massed outside parliament, and brought into force on 24 May 2019, the final day of the court's deadline. Taiwan became the first place in Asia with legal same-sex marriage, and the gaps left in that first version, adoption among them, were closed in the years after.
Ximending is the scene, and it is unusually public about it. The plaza behind the Red House, a 1908 market building, is ringed with open-air bars where people drink outdoors in full view of a busy shopping district, which is not how this normally works in Asia. Lane 10 off Chengdu Road holds Café Dalida and G-Paradise, with Commander D, Commander Bear, Hunt, Locker Room, Wonder Bar and Cosma within a few streets, and the area is signposted as a rainbow district rather than left to be inferred.
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The bigger rooms sit east in Da'an, along Zhongxiao East Road: OMNI, Fairy Taipei and Pawnshop take the club nights, with G Star over in Zhongshan. The saunas, Aniki, Hans and Soi 13, are spread between Wanhua and Zhongzheng.
GinGin, which opened in 1999 as the first LGBTQ bookstore in the Chinese-speaking world, closed at the end of 2024 after twenty-six years. The Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association is the long-standing advocacy organization, having spent years on exactly the fight described above, and Fembooks covers the feminist side.
Taiwan LGBT Pride takes over the city each October and is by a wide margin the largest Pride in Asia, drawing people from across the region, including from places where marching at home is not possible. The Taiwan International Queer Film Festival runs alongside it.
Upcoming Events
High-energy gay dance club in Taipei with weekend DJ parties, go-go shows, and a young local crowd.
Taipei queer nightlife concept and event space known for community-first programming.
Taipei nightlife venue known for dance events and LGBTQ+-friendly crowd.
Taiwan civil-rights organization advocating for LGBTQ+ partnership recognition, marriage equality protections, and legal reform.
Taiwan LGBTQ+ organization offering hotline support, counseling, community education, and advocacy resources.
Annual international LGBTQ+ film festival in Taiwan, showcasing queer cinema from Asia and around the world, one of the region's most significant queer film events held in Taipei.
Gay cruising bar in Taipei's Wanhua District catering to the city's leather and fetish community with a dark, intimate atmosphere on Guiyang Street.
Taiwan's annual LGBTQ+ pride parade in Taipei, the largest pride event in Asia, drawing hundreds of thousands of participants to Ketagalan Boulevard each October.
Gay bar and club in Taipei's Da'an District on Zhongxiao East Road, offering cocktails and a dance floor in a popular nightlife area.
Rainbow crossing beside Exit 6 of Ximen MRT Station, installed in September 2019 to mark Taiwan becoming the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, and repainted in 2025.
Feminist and LGBTQ+-focused bookshop in Taipei's Da'an District with a curated selection of queer, feminist, and social justice literature in Chinese and other languages.
Central, comfortable multi-level sauna with pools, steam, dry sauna, cabins, and a small theater.
Taipei's newest and largest gay nightclub, open Thursday to Sunday until 5am, with big lighting and staging.
Ximending bar popular with the bear community, part of Taipei's Red House gay quarter.
Relaxed lounge bar in Taipei's Ximending gay district, good for drinks and conversation.