Reuters – South Korea’s Gay Pride supporters flooded the streets on Saturday (June 1) celebrating the annual Seoul Queer Culture Festival after Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage.

Thousands of members of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community attended the festival, which marked the 20th of its kind, and demanded equality and same-sex marriage law in the country.

Taiwan’s parliament passed a bill in May that endorsed same-sex marriage. Homosexuality is not illegal in Korea, but the Seoul Western District Court dismissed a bid for same-sex marriage in 2016.

Meanwhile, across the street, hundreds of anti-LGBT protesters, mostly from churches, staged a rally and chanted slogans such as “No same-sex marriage” and “Homosexuality is a sin”.