LGBTQ friendlies

[jademushroom]

Just wondering where's a good spot someone can find other members of the LGBTQ community. I was told to go to Red House in Ximending last time, but it looked very lacking in gays. Granted it was also during the day...

[urodacus]

The old Sogo store at Zhongxiao Fuxing

[Dragonbones]

Hi jademushroom, and welcome to Forumosa!

There is one thread on Lesbian Hang-outs in Taipei, so for the L part you might start there. I'm not aware of a thread on the remaining 'letters' so perhaps this will be the start of it.

[naijeru]

Forgive me, what does the 'Q' refer to? I have not seen this before.

[ThreadKiller]

As far as I know the Q stands for "queer" or "questioning".

The Red Theater area is pretty damn GAY. Of course you need to try it at night.

Haven't been to a lesbian bar for years, but they are out there.

As far as gay bars go, I enjoy Fresh. Pretty quiet during the week, but all the floors will be open on Friday and Saturday. There are lots of big clubs which mainly cater to the gay crowd, but I like Fresh 'cos you can dance but can also just chill out in one of the small lounges or on the balcony.

[ls918]

Hello, I'm not sure which part of the LGBTQ letter crowd you're from, I'll just assume you're the G since someone recommended you to the Red House, sadly in Taiwan the LGBTQ crowd does not mingle as a whole but rather separately.

The Red House, or Ximending in general, during the day it is filled with junior high school kids, but at night the outdoor plaza is filled with men.
There's a LGBTQ bookstore called Gin Gin Bookstore, and about two doors away there's H*ours Cafe, a coffee shop with plenty of happy gay men every time I passed by.

I once been to a supposedly LGBTQ-friendly coffee shop near Shi-Da nightmarket called 米倉, but even with that giant rainbow flag hanging next to the door, all the patrons inside looked really straight to me, even at night.

Sorry I cannot be more helpful, but you can try the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline, I believe they do provide such information, if you can't speak Chinese fluently ask a friend to call in for you

[jademushroom]

Hey all, thanks for the responses!

I'm a bisexual female actually, and I'd just like to get a feel for the community. Not looking for date/hookup/relationship (I'm attached), just friends. I'm also a gay rights activist so any point in the right direction on what should be done in Taiwan would be nice too. I'm never happy unless I'm helping/fighting for people.

@naijeru Q tends to stand for Queer, which is both used on it's own gender identity, or as an umbrella term for the sexual and gender minorities as a whole, since LGBTQ usually isn't seen as encompassing of the entire community. I think some more letters goes LGBTQIAATSBQC.... [thinks for a bit] we call it an alphabet soup for a reason...

[ThreadKiller]

Welcome to Forumosa by the way, jademushroom!

Is918 was right in sending you in the direction of Gin Gin's Bookstore. I think the owner is quite involved in the rights movement. You will find lots of brochures about events and organizations (as well as some business cards for lesbian and gay hang-outs). Unfortunately, the link to the website doesn't seem to be working, but the info I can find is:

1/F No. 8, Alley 8, Lane 210, Roosevelt Road, Section 3,
中正區羅斯福路三段210巷8弄8號1樓

Vicinity:
Zhongzheng

Directions:
Close to Taipower Building MRT station

Contact:
# 2364-2006

http://www.ginginbooks.com

Open:
11am-10pm daily

If you do go to Fresh (the club mentioned before), you'll probably feel quite relaxed. It's mostly gay guys, but women and non-homophobic straight guys feel quite comfortable there. Ask for Weber, the owner, and ask him for ideas about the LGBTQ community. He probably knows all there is to know.

[HeyPharaoh]

Just to echo Threadkiller and ls918, for the gay scene definitely check out all the bars behind the Red House after dark.

My friend Yasmine and I stopped by for a drink one night and it was a blast, our waiter (he works at Cafe Dalida) was a riot. Definitely hilarious, plus their drinks were really good to top it off. = )

Hope you find everything you are looking for! Sorry I can't be more of a help! = )

[jademushroom]

I'd really like to find out some day time stuff too... I live in Shulin/Sanxia, which is really out of the city. So I probably can't go out at night at all, at least, until I learn how to drive.