Post submitted by Saurav Jung Thapa, former Associate Director, HRC Global   

Notorious anti-LGBTQ exporter of hate Brian Brown - who has unsuccessfully worked to undermine marriage equality in the United States for at least 11 years - is now peddling his hatred in Taiwan.  

Brown has visited Taiwan several times since 2017 and posted a video in January 2018 urging Taiwanese people to vote against marriage equality in upcoming ballot initiatives on November 24. Anti-equality activists have forced two measures onto the ballot that would prevent marriage equality, and LGBTQ advocates have a measure in favor of marriage equality.

Brown heads the so-called National Organization for Marriage and the shameful World Congress of Families (WCF), which is designated as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  The WCF provides a platform for virulent anti-LGBTQ extremists around the world to spread their messages of hate.

“I am deeply disturbed to see how radical activists from the United States are trying to export hatred by deploying resources to undermine marriage equality and exclude loving LGBTQ couples from legal recognition in Taiwan,” said HRC Global Innovator Jennifer Lu, who heads the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan. “The proposed referendum to ban marriage equality in Taiwan is a deplorable attack on the rights of LGBTQ Taiwanese people. Hateful agitators like Brian Brown who want to drag Taiwan backwards have no place here and we will continue to fight against them.”

The Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan has been leading the fight to ensure that Taiwanese legislators honor the Constitutional Court ruling of May 2017, which called for marriage equality to be enacted within two years.  Legislators have yet to enact marriage equality due to pressure from influential anti-equality groups backed by American exporters of hate such as Brian Brown.  If Taiwan achieves marriage equality, it would be the first place in Asia to do so.

According to the Coalition, more than four-fifths of Taiwanese people believe that legalizing marriage equality would not negatively affect their lives. The Coalition is urging Taiwanese voters to go to the polls in November to reject the anti-marriage equality ballot measure.

HRC Global stands in solidarity with the Taiwanese LGBTQ community as they fight for marriage equality.  Read more about our work here.