On May 17th, 2019, lawmakers in Taiwan passed the Marriage Equality bill. The landmark legislative decision, which was effective on May 24th, 2019, not only made same-sex marriage possible on the island, also made Taiwan the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
In June 2019, Red Hot Organization were introduced to Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan （婚姻平權大平台） during their visit to New York for Pride Week. Their efforts in facilitating the passing of the Marriage Equality bill in Taiwan inspired us. As a result, we started to produce our first Taiwanese indie-pop EP, NO FEAR IN LOVE, in the hope of celebrating the human rights milestone and to further advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in Asia. This project also reminds us of Red Hot’s roots in fighting global pandemic since 1990 and supporting LGBTQ+ partners’ rights in critical moments like this.
Like all the Red Hot projects in the past, the digital streaming revenue of the T-POP EP will be donated to activist groups in Taiwan and other Asian countries to support their marriage equality movement. Red Hot will also produce a limited number of physical products to support Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan’s fundraising effort to eliminate discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.
T-POP: No Fear in Love features five independent artists from Taiwan to celebrate Taiwan’s LGBTQ+ movement and its vibrant community of queer artists and allies. Like Taiwan’s most famous export, Bubble Tea, T-Pop promises to be both sweet and international.