感謝大家自去年得知臺灣獲選 WorldPride2025 申辦權後，持續給予支持與關注。我們自 2020 底籌組申辦 WorldPride2025，在有幸得到各大企業及政府單位的支持與幫助下，順利勝選。然而，今天沉重地向大家宣佈，我們將停止舉辦 WorldPride Taiwan 2025 。
在合約討論過程當中，我們由臺灣同志遊行及高雄同志大遊行組成的臺灣世界同志遊行籌備委員會與授權方 InterPride 無法就雙方主張達成共識，於文化及國情上差異，雙方多次溝通未果，即便我方已盡力配合，亦無法獲取對方信賴亦無法建立信任關係。
在來回討論的過程中，InterPride 對臺灣情況，無論是活動命名、文化民情，或是遊行規劃，雙方均存在認知差異。InterPride 代表亦對臺灣是否有能力及經濟條件舉辦世界同志遊行提出多次質疑，縱使臺灣同志遊行已經是東亞及亞洲最大的同志遊行活動，我們籌備委員會亦是亞洲最有經驗的同志遊行執行團隊，我方提出許多過去執行成績與數據，且盡力交涉與說明，讓活動可以有機會在臺灣舉辦，但過程中對方依然無法理解且多次表達對臺灣的不信任。
我們無法繼續 WorldPride Taiwan 2025 的最後一個原因，是自 2021 年初的申請、審查資料、票選、獲選，都一直以 Taiwan 為名。雙方亦曾討論使用 “Taiwan” 為活動名稱的原因在於臺灣的同志遊行文化有全國性的象徵，從2003年臺灣第一場同志遊行就是以臺灣為名，而不是以城市為名。
另一個原因則是， WorldPride Taiwan 2025 的活動是規劃全臺串聯，而不是只有侷限於高雄舉辦，因此在內部文件與公開聲明一直使用 “Taiwan”；在獲選後InterPride錯誤稱呼我國為臺灣地區的聲明中，我們對InterPride提出抗議，並在我國外交部協助下，經過連日的努力交涉並堅持立場，三方在2021年11月16日開會協商命名問題最終達成共識，同意以Taiwan為名。
但 InterPride 近期突然要求我們只能以城市為名，更換活動名稱為 “Kaohsiung”。這已推翻了我們在三方會議上的決議。InterPride 對臺灣的認知落差、於命名議題上的反覆、對籌辦團隊與臺灣市場的質疑等種種原因，經審慎評估，認為如活動繼續進行將可能損及臺灣與臺灣同志社群利益，因此決議於簽署合約前終止此項計畫，向大家承認失敗並委員會總辭負責。
這一路上，我們深深感謝每位支持我們的大家，特別是總統府的支持及外交部一直不離不棄的協助，事事提供資源及幫助，一起不分日夜為臺灣在國際上努力。
最後，臺灣作為東亞同志遊行文化的代表，不論參與規模還是遊行數量，毫無疑問地是亞洲最大及人數最多的紀錄。未來我們會回到各單位繼續為臺灣同志遊行文化努力以及讓世界看見臺灣，感謝大家。
臺灣世界同志遊行籌備委員會
2022/08/12
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《Statement on Project Termination of Hosting WorldPride Taiwan 2025》
The WorldPride 2025 Taiwan Preparation Committee would like to express our sincere gratitude for all the generous support we have received since winning the bid to host WorldPride 2025 in Taiwan. After months of preparation and collaboration with various government departments and corporate enterprises, it is a great pity to announce that the project of WorldPride Taiwan 2025 has been terminated.
When discussing and negotiating the event contract’s terms and conditions, the WorldPride 2025 Taiwan Preparation Committee (consisting of Taiwan Pride and Kaohsiung Pride) was unable to reach a consensus with InterPride, the event licensor. There were major discrepancies between our stances on the event’s naming, understandings of Taiwan’s culture, and expectations of what a WorldPride event should look like.
In the back-and-forth discussions, InterPride repetitively raised their concerns and doubts about whether Taiwan has the capacity, economic and otherwise, to host an international event like WorldPride. This is despite our team consisting of highly competent Pride organizers who have successfully organized some of the largest Pride events in Asia. Although we have presented past data and relevant statistics to prove our track record, we were still unable to convince InterPride. However hard we have tried to cooperate, our efforts did not result in an equal and trusting working partnership with the event licensor.
The final straw that led the negotiation to a deadlock was the abrupt notice from InterPride, requiring the name of the event to change from “WorldPride Taiwan 2025” to “WorldPride Kaohsiung 2025”. This is despite the fact that the name “WorldPride Taiwan 2025” was used throughout the entire bidding process: From the bid application and the bid proposal evaluation to the voting process and the winner announcement back in 2021.
We had made it clear to InterPride that there are some significant reasons why we insist on using the name “WorldPride Taiwan 2025”. First, the name “Taiwan Pride” is of symbolic significance to the Taiwanese LGBTIQ+ community as it has been used for Taiwan’s first and still ongoing Pride parade since the first edition in 2003. It was not named after the city but the nation as a whole. Second, WorldPride Taiwan 2025 was planned to connect several Pride events and activities across Taiwan, with many cities, in addition to Kaohsiung, participating.
After the winner announcement, upon reading InterPride’s congratulatory letter which mistakenly named Taiwan as a region instead of a country, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) helped organize a tripartite meeting with InterPride and KH Pride on November 16 2021. In the meeting, the three parties (MOFA, InterPride, KH Pride) agreed on using “WorldPride Taiwan 2025” as the name for all the sequential events and activities. However, during the recent contract negotiation, InterPride suddenly made it a requirement that WorldPride 2025 can only be named after the host city rather than the country (“WorldPride Kaohsiung 2025” instead of “WorldPride Taiwan 2025”). This unexpected requirement essentially reneges on the previously made agreement.
In the face of many uncertainties such as InterPride’s inconsistent attitude toward the event naming and doubts about our team and the Taiwan market, we have to make the painful decision to terminate the project of hosting WorldPride 2025 in order to strive for the best interest of the LGBTIQ+ community in Taiwan. The WorldPride 2025 Preparation Committee will also resign to take responsibility for failing to host the event.
We would like to express our most profound appreciation to everyone who has supported us. We are especially grateful for the continuous assistance and resources provided by Taiwan’s Presidential Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
We promise that the termination of hosting WorldPride Taiwan 2025 will not undermine our motivation to serve the LGBTIQ+ community. We will continue to promote Taiwan’s LGBTIQ+ culture worldwide.
The WorldPride 2025 Taiwan Preparation Committee
2022/08/12