More than 40 percent of Taiwanese now say they have a friend or relative who identifies as LGBTQ — a milestone that speaks volumes about how personal connections are quietly reshaping social attitudes in Taiwan. According to a poll by Taiwan Equality Campaign conducted in 2025, 43.2 % of respondents reported knowing someone who is part of the LGBTQ community — up roughly five percentage points from last year.
That growing ripple of personal exposure arrives just as — on the sixth anniversary of legalization of same-sex marriage — the public also expresses increasingly solid support for LGBTQ people living their truth in everyday life: more than 60 % of those surveyed said they are accepting of LGBTQ individuals in their daily lives, while over 70 % said they support LGBTQ people serving as elected officials or favour gender-equality education in schools.
Support for specific rights continues to be more nuanced. The poll asked about access to assisted reproductive technology (ART): over half of respondents backed married lesbian couples’ right to use ART, while 43.1 % extended that support to married gay couples.
Still, the survey’s authors and LGBTQ advocates warn that legislative change has lagged. Wong Yu‑cin from the Taiwan Equality Campaign noted that while visibility of LGBTQ people is increasing, legal protections remain murky — and public understanding of the issues may still be limited enough to leave gaps between empathy and policy.
This shift inside households and among friends may matter more than any headline figure. In many Taiwanese families — especially older generations shaped by Confucian values — discussions about gender and sexuality rarely surface. Traditional norms rooted in filial piety (孝, xiào) and the imperative to continue the family line still exert heavy cultural weight. That 43.2 % now openly say they have LGBTQ people close to them — a number rising over time — hints at how generational change and increased visibility are quietly eroding long-standing taboos.
That personal proximity also dovetails with broader social developments. Advocacy groups such as Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association (TTHA) have steadily built networks, support systems, and community services over decades, helping to make public LGBTQ identities more viable, even in a still-conservative social environment.
It’s worth noting that, historically, public opinion in Taiwan on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ issues has fluctuated. Early polls — such as a 2013 survey — showed modest support for same-sex marriage at just over half of the population; by 2020, some surveys recorded as low as 43 % in favour. The fact that the current wave of support seems broader — especially for LGBTQ visibility and inclusion at multiple levels of society — suggests a transformation not just of laws, but of social imaginaries.
Still, change is gradual. Legal reforms have not kept pace with attitudes. While same-sex marriage has been legal since 2019, many issues remain unresolved: access to reproductive technologies, parental rights, full anti-discrimination legislation, and societal acceptance beyond urban centers. Advocates argue that the momentum generated by this survey — and by rising numbers of Taiwanese who know an LGBTQ person — could build stronger public pressure for those reforms.
In Mandarin, being able to say “我有 LGBTQ 朋友” (“I have LGBTQ friends”) without hesitation can be as meaningful as any legal statute. As the new poll shows, more and more Taiwanese are beginning to speak those words — and in doing so, subtly redefining what it means to belong, to be family, and to be an ally in a society that is still learning to reconcile tradition with diversity.
Oh Taiwan, my bright little island that refuses to dim its own light. Every time I read a new survey about your shifting attitudes, my heart does a slow somersault — the kind that only happens when change is real, lived, intimate. Forty-plus percent of people saying they have LGBTQ friends or family? That isn’t just statistical information. That’s a cultural tide turning, quietly and stubbornly, the way real revolutions often do in our part of the world.
I’ve spent half my life zigzagging across Asia, drinking too-sweet coffee with activists, gossiping with aunties who pretend not to know what “queer” means (but absolutely do), listening to young people whisper about their identities in alleyways and chat groups because their families still insist on a straight destiny. And then there is Taiwan — taking all that fear, all that whispered longing, and replying with something simple and gracious: Come out, come home, we see you.
That’s why Taiwan matters. Not because of diplomatic alliances or who recognises whose passport. Asia’s chancelleries may pretend Taiwan is invisible, but its moral leadership shines like a lantern festival in the dark. You may not have many embassies, dear Taiwan, but your courage is our embassy. Your Pride parades are our safe passage. Your laws and your activism are the soft landing for other countries’ dreams.
And yes — I have many LGBTQ friends. More than “many.” My queer siblings are my family by choice. They make my life louder, brighter, more honest. They have dragged me through heartbreaks, held me through career setbacks, educated me on things I thought I already knew. And you? Don’t tell me you have none. Impossible. If you think you don’t have LGBTQ friends, it’s only because someone you love is still too scared to tell you.
This is why Taiwan’s numbers matter: when nearly half the population proudly says, “Yes, I know someone,” that friend, cousin, colleague, neighbour suddenly breathes a little easier. Shame cracks. Silence melts. And the rest of us — the aunties, the allies, the wanderers — feel a little less lonely in our long fight across Asia for dignity and equality.
So here I am, raising my imaginary bubble tea to Taiwan. Thank you for being the region’s stubborn, sparkling, rainbow-wrapped overachiever. Keep going. Keep leading. Keep inspiring. The rest of Asia is watching — and some of us are already packing our bags to join your next Pride.