The decade beginning in 1990 was a key period for Taiwan's gay movement. Unlike the 1980s, when the only gay issue that caught the attention of general society was Chi Chia-wei's denunciations of "heterosexual authoritarianism," the 1990s saw the movement carried forward, like so many other social movements at that time, on Taiwan's rising tide of democracy.

As with any other social movement, it is no easy task to isolate the most salient elements of the struggle for gay rights and weave a clear account of the past without omitting anything important. But chief editor Chuang Hui-chiu has done a masterful job of just that, spinning a broad tapestry that shows the interplay between individual emotions and collective experience. This she achieves by inviting contributions from over 30 persons from all walks of life who have played prominent roles in the gay movement over the past decade. By allowing each writer their own individual perspective, the book avoids the difficulties of historiography while providing students of social movements with a rigorous yet creative presentation of the facts.

Raising the Rainbow Banner splits its historical narrative into three parts: "The Experience of Gay Groups"; "Gays on the Internet and in Publishing" and "Breathing Room for Gays." Each contributor recounts his or her personal experiences, and through each writer's eyes we get a feel for some of the key issues that individuals and groups have had to deal with-the pressure on movement participants to come out of the closet, self-identity and personal growth, and internal struggles over the direction of the movement.

Yuhsuan A-chi, for example, was a key member of Among Us, Taiwan's first lesbian group. She first got involved in social activism as a naive high school student, subsequently struggled to establish her own sexual identity, experienced the difficulties of maintaining group cohesion, fought the battle that erupted after TTV News World Report sneak-filmed scenes in a gay bar, and established the magazine Girlfriends. In just a few years she emerged as one of the most visible gay rights activists in Taiwan. But individuals, no less than groups, have struggles over ideology and personal philosophy, which is what led her to break up with her girlfriend in 1998. She bowed out of the gay rights movement and chose instead to pursue spiritual growth. Shortening her pen name to Yuhsuan was a way of saying "good-bye to all that" and, at the same time, of serving as a memento to her time in the movement.

They say a person's hair can turn white overnight. In that case, one can only imagine what ten years of social activism can do. Yuhsuan's later path notwithstanding, her decade in the gay rights movement was certainly worth recording.

Gay writer Lin Hsien-hsiu recounts his agonizing exit from the closet while serving in the military in 1993. Besides facing the scorn of the other soldiers, he had the added burden of seeing his father frequently called to camp to deal with the scrapes that Lin got into on account of his sexuality. In the end, Lin found the pressure unbearable and exercised his option as a homosexual to leave the military.

Lin worked for a number of years as a TV screenwriter and reporter both before and after his stint in the military, and after leaving the military was retained as a columnist by China Times, where he wrote "Gays in Focus." His personal experience helped fuel the growth of the gay rights movement, but when the Ministry of National Defense later reversed its policy of not requiring homosexuals to serve in the military, Lin decided to take off for America rather than return to what amounts to a chamber of horrors for gays. He has now been in the United States for many years working as a translator of gay literature. His part in the gay rights movement thus led to virtual exile in the United States.

But the movement has certainly had its triumphs.

Chang Chuan-fen, a veteran activist in the gay and women's rights movements, wrote a couple of lesbian novels packed with local color-Against the Wall and Freestyle Love-that earned rave reviews and sold extremely well, much to the amazement of the publishing industry. They sold so well, in fact, that bookstores in central and southern Taiwan had trouble keeping them in stock.

Publishers were startled by the numbers, and by what they meant: "There are gays everywhere!"

Passions, laughter, tears, and smash-mouth conflict jump off the pages of Raising the Rainbow Banner in full color as we read the personal recollections of those who experienced the gay rights movement first-hand. But there are also shortcomings to this type of compilation. The treatment of many controversial incidents tends to be one-sided, either because it is written from a single person's perspective, or because there is no effort to achieve any sort of journalistic balance.

Gay film director Mickey Chen's experience is a good case in point. His video Not Simply a Wedding Banquet, a documentary of Taiwan's first public gay wedding, was entered into numerous international film festivals, but Chen was turned down when he applied to the Government Information Office for financial support to enter the work in a film festival. The incident elicited a storm of protest from the artistic community, especially from noted author Hsiao Yeh. Critics charged the GIO with "anti-gay discrimination." Those familiar with the inside story, however, understand that the GIO's reason for not subsidizing Not Simply a Wedding Banquet had nothing to do with the documentary's gay subject matter. It was simply that Chen had made a video, which did not conform to the GIO's rule of subsidizing only cinematic films. Documentary makers in Taiwan are all completely aware of this situation, but Raising the Rainbow Banner only relates the charges of discrimination.

Naturally enough, participants in the gay rights movement support many different opinions and tactics. For doubly marginalized lesbians, coming out of the closet is a big bugaboo, and "outing" someone else against their will is a grave sin in their book. But a certain few male homosexuals are willing to resort to extremes. At the media event to announce the release of Raising the Rainbow Banner, for example, Mickey Chen outed novelist Pai Hsien-yung and choreographer Lin Hwai-min. Chen sparked a round of intense media scrutiny by criticizing these two big cultural celebrities, saying that they had not done enough for Taiwan's gay rights movement.

Are incidents of this sort a good way of getting exposure for the issue of gay rights? Or do they simply detract from group unity? The jury is still out on that question.

Perhaps a "movement" is in fact nothing more than all of society going through a process of learning. Perhaps we are learning to "always protect, always trust, always hope." And perhaps Hong Kong film director Edward Lam hit the nail on the head when he said: "All of society is taking part in the gay movement. Until all of us 'come out of the closet,' we won't know true peace, and the whole issue of coming out will be riddled with unfairness." It is Lam who coined the usage of tongzhi (comrade) to mean "gay" when he quoted the famous words of Sun Yat-sen: "The revolution is not yet won. All of you comrades must carry on."

The early champions of the gay rights movement had a lot to get off their chests, and they did so with vehemence. More recently, however, the vehemence seems to be tapering off. For example, the gay group "LaLa Players" were clearly at ease with their sexual identity when they conducted a fundraising campaign to participate in the Sydney Gay Olympics.

Setting aside the question of how far Taiwan's gay rights movement has come, the LaLa Players' fundraising evening made strikingly clear how much more comfortable the younger generation of gays has become with the whole question of sexuality. As a young scholar up on stage poked good-natured fun at both the gays and heterosexuals in the audience, one couldn't help feeling that the free and easy demeanor of the young gays there was itself the achievement of the gay rights movement.

The gay rights movement offers a historical saga that cuts to the heart of the human experience. Raising the Rainbow Banner is one of the best historical narratives of the gay rights movement to appear in recent years, and makes a fine read even if you're just looking for a good story.

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Title: Raising the Rainbow Banner

Editor: Chuang Hui-chiu

Publisher: Psygarden Book Co.

Publication date: September 2002

Price: NT$320

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The third 2002 Taipei lesbian and Gay Civil Rights Movement was held this October. With banners held high, participants fearlessly proclaim their presence and longing for equal treatment. (photo by Jimmy Lin)