By Bamboo Chen
A rainbow flag, a symbol of gay pride, appeared as the façade of the centered building on campus of Shih Hsin University (SHU) after the referendum on marriage equality reforms in November 2018.
After the elections and referendum, people who support same-sex marriage were disappointed by the results. Their hopes have been overtaken by anxiety and fears as Taiwan votes on marriage equality mounted by anti-gay rights opponents. Therefore, students from the Graduate Institute of Gender Studies at SHU decided to put up a rainbow flag hanging down from the said building on campus.
On Thursday, November 29th, the group of students used six large strips of cloth in different colors to make a rainbow flag and attached them to one side of the centered building, the She-Wo Building. People passing by would surely stop for the eye-catching view and mostly take a selfie with the flying colors of the LGBT pride. On December 3rd, the school asked the students to take down the flag for they did not submit their application for demonstration or public display of symbolic language. But the students soon put the flag back on the following day and filed an application immediately the day after.
The students said that they want to the rainbow flag up there to be seen until the end of the semester. They hope to show their support to gay community, the spirit of love, and mutual respect among people around the world. They asserts that they will not give up until the day when gender equality is truly achieved. However, the flag was taken down again on December 14th. The school disapproved their application and asked them to take the flag down after their meeting with the students. The school explains that now there are no relevant regulations and hanging flags or anything on buildings at will may leave others with a negative impression of SHU.
Despite many difficulties, the group of students who launched to hoist the gay-pride flag are still striving for their right to speech and symbolic language. They invite everyone at SHU to wear or to bring something that stands for the symbol of gay pride to show their support before the school offers its agreement. Although when the flag will be put up again remains an unknown question, it is certain that people who believe in love and equal rights are making their efforts in their own ways.
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