Features | Society | East Asia

A Raid on a Gay Bar Risks Taiwan’s LGBTQ-Friendly Reputation 

An attorney says authorities overstepped legal bounds, and activists warn of discrimination ahead of Asia’s largest Pride event.

A rainbow crosswalk in Ximending, Taipei, Taiwan.

A patron at a well-known gay bar in Taipei recalls being “extremely shocked and confused” when around 30 police staged a dramatic raid on October 3 and took dozens of people away for questioning.

The raid occurred just four weeks before Taipei’s annual Pride celebration. Footage of officers using demeaning language and what attorneys have described as unlawful treatment spurred an estimated 100 protesters to march on precinct headquarters the next day.

While several officers have been disciplined, LGBTQ advocates say the issue goes beyond the actions of a few. They are calling for structural changes to protect the rights of sexual minorities in a city that has come to be known for tolerance.

“This incident exposes a serious gap. A city can celebrate LGBTQ communities publicly but still not ensure everyone is treated equally by institutions like the police,” Sean Du, secretary-general of the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, Taiwan’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, said.

Taiwan has built a reputation as one of Asia’s most LGBTQ -friendly societies in the decades since the police crackdowns and harassment of the martial law era that ended in 1987.

Taiwan became the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019. For queer travelers from countries in the region where same-sex relations are stigmatized or even criminalized, Taipei has become something of a liberal bastion. The island also boasts Asia’s largest Pride parade, held annually on the last Saturday of October, with an estimated 150,000 attending last year.

The raid targeted Commander D, a 14-year-old BDSM-themed club in Wanhua District’s Ximending area. Wanhua Precinct police said they had received 13 complaints about Commander D from members of the public between January 1 and Saturday, October 3.

Police visits are not unusual at Taipei clubs; officers typically check IDs before heading on their way. But this time officers came armed with a search warrant approved by the Taipei District Court.

Lin, 34, a clinical psychologist and founder of the independent Threads publication Taipei Rainbow Party Weekly, said he had witnessed numerous nightclub inspections before but that Saturday’s was a “fundamentally different” encounter, one that left some of his friends traumatized.

More than 30 police, including uniformed and plainclothes officers, flooded Commander D at around 4:30 p.m., stopping the music and turning on the lights, Lin said. Videos shared on social media by others showed officers ordering customers to squat down and put away their phones.

Police told the media they had found used condoms and that some customers were nude. Those not wearing clothes were not allowed to put them back on, while those who had hastily gotten dressed were made to remove their clothes to preserve evidence, Lin recounted.

Of the 58 customers police say were inside, around two-thirds were shirtless and most of the rest in their underwear. Only a few were completely naked, Lin said.

Police did not initially display the warrant to those gathered, witnesses said. A video shared on social media shows police repeatedly ordering customers to stop talking, telling them to challenge the operation in court. 

Officers also mocked a man for being in a wheelchair, questioning whether he was able to have sex. When a manager came to the man’s defense, he was handcuffed and made to kneel on the floor, local media cited eyewitnesses as saying.

Patrons had their belongings searched and were subjected to a urine test for drugs. After several hours, 51 people were loaded into police vehicles and taken to the precinct for further questioning as “witnesses.” 

Commander D did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Did Police Overstep Their Authority?

Several police actions that day were legally problematic, according to Lingwei Li, founder and managing lawyer at Zenkuan Law Firm and founder of the Taiwan Nonbinary Queer Sluts, Taiwan’s first support group for nonbinary people.

A warrant to search the premises does not automatically entitle police to search every customer’s property, and individual searches require separate criteria or consent, Li said.

Compulsory drug tests, meanwhile, should be limited to persons placed under arrest, not witnesses. Li told The Diplomat they were not aware of any legal basis for barring witnesses from using their phones.

Police also blurred the line between a witness and a suspect, Li said. A witness cannot simply be detained unless they fail to appear without good reason after being formally summoned to testify and a warrant........

© The Diplomat