‘We’re not freaks’: police raid sparks concern for Taiwan’s LGBT-friendly image

Josh was having a drink at Commander D, a popular gay bar in Taipei, on a Saturday afternoon when several police officers suddenly burst in. “Squat down and don’t move,” they shouted. Bewildered, he looked around to see the bar owner being handcuffed and forced to his knees.

The 28-year-old was among 51 customers to be rounded up and taken away for questioning over suspected breaches of public decency rules.

“I didn’t expect something like this to still happen these days. It definitely made me feel a lot less safe,” says Josh, a gay man from Taiwan whose name has been changed due to the sensitivity of the incident. The police operation was criticised by rights groups as heavy-handed, and has unsettled LGBTQ+ communities in Taiwan.

On Saturday the island hosts one of the region’s largest Pride parades, and some say the police operation is emblematic of a persistent, wider stigma that risks jeopardising its global image as a LGBTQ-friendly destination.

‘Will it be safe to hold hands in the street?’

The raid took place on 3 October at a bar that is billed as Taipei’s first and only BDSM-themed bar and features in several international travel guides. Commander D has operated for more than a decade in the Ximending area – a hub for LGBTQ+ tourists where gay bars and sex shops can be easily spotted.

The bar’s owner was arrested and referred to prosecutors on suspicion of profiting from facilitating sexual or indecent acts, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

In the days after the raid, the police department said that it had received 13 complaints this year alleging public decency violations at the bar.

In an interview with Taiwanese media on 7 October, the bar owner accused the police of using excessive force and said that any intimate encounters between customers were a matter of personal choice. He has not yet been formally charged with any offences. His lawyer declined to comment on the case, citing the ongoing investigation.

Videos posted on social media showed the police mocking a disabled customer and preventing some people from putting their clothes back on. Some had taken their shirts off because it was a warm day. Police said they had reviewed 41 body cam recordings and acknowledged inappropriate language had been used by its officers.

“There was an element of sexual humiliation,” says Victoria Hsu, a human rights lawyer specialising in LGBTQ+ rights. As police refused to let the patrons get dressed, “they weren’t allowed to go to the police station with dignity”.

The police department said their actions were intended to bring the scene under control and the court-authorised search had not targeted any particular group or sexual orientation. Yet after a strong public backlash, Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an apologised and six police officers were disciplined for inappropriate remarks and failing to supervise their juniors properly. Rights groups are calling for an independent investigation.

Wanhua police division said rights groups filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors on 7 October. “The matter has entered the judicial process, and we await the outcome of the investigation and any subsequent court proceedings.”

Midnight Poonkasetwattana, executive director of the Bangkok-based LGBTQ+ advocacy network APCOM, told Taiwan’s Central news agency that the raid “could undermine the gay-friendly image Taiwan has built”.

Hung Yan-an, a gay man living in Taipei, says he received messages from overseas friends about the incident. “A gay friend of mine in Spain has been asking me: ‘Is everything OK? If I visit, will it be safe to hold hands with my partner in the street?’”

Persistent stigma

The episode stands in stark contrast to a recent survey that found public support for gay marriage has increased from 42% to 54% since Taiwan legalised same-sex marriage in 2019, the first place in Asia to do so.

“But inclusion is not only about marriage equality, Pride or international recognition. It is also about how public institutions treat LGBTQI+ people when exercising state power,” Poonkasetwattana said in a formal letter of protest to Taiwan’s representative in Thailand over the decision to raid Commander D.

Local campaigners say the raid exposes a persistent stigma around queer venues, as well as “homophobia, discrimination and abuse of power that have long been embedded in the police system”.

A spokesperson for the Wanhua police division did not directly address the allegations of longstanding institutional homophobia but said it “fully respects social and cultural diversity and people’s rights” and would continue to combat crime and enforce the law to maintain public order.

Other gay venues have also faced scrutiny. In April, a gay bathhouse in the central city of Taichung closed after a police raid over suspected public-decency offences and subsequent inspections. In a Facebook statement announcing the closure, its owner accused police of discriminatory treatment. A gay gym in Taipei, which closed in 2021, had reportedly been inspected 186 times over three years.

“Some police officers assume that gay people are more likely to have drugs on them,” lawyer Hsu says. “I’ve had quite a few LGBTQ+ people come to me for legal advice, for example, some of them were subjected to improper police searches.”

‘A subtle sense of discomfort’

For Chien Shih-han, a Taiwanese drag queen who performs as Hannah, discrimination is not always easy to identify. He recalls gay venues facing repeated noise complaints and a pre-booked taxi driving away after the driver saw a friend in drag.

“It could all come down to this subtle sense of discomfort or anxiety towards sexual minorities,” Chien says.

In his view, gay venues such as Commander D have offered a refuge to people who do not fit the mainstream, even within the LGBTQ+ community. “It was a kind of safety net,” Chien says. “Now it feels as though someone is setting fire to that net.”

Weeks later, Josh says he still feels “a little scared” when thinking back to the raid, but that it would not stop him taking to the streets for Taiwan Pride.

“I want to express my anger at being taken to the police station that day,” he says, “I want to go with the message that we’re not strange, we’re not freaks.”