The LGBT community in Taiwan continues to become more active and outspoken since 2010. You can see their progress from GLAAD‘s previous posts: Thousands Rally in Support of LGBT People in Taiwan, Taiwan Sends Marriage Equality Case to Top Judges, to Hundreds Gather in Taiwan to Support Gay Marriage Bill. Now, Taiwan is ready to make the next breakthrough.

The 1st Queermosa Awards, founded by Taiwan International Queer Film Festival (TIQFF) and sponsored by Portico Media, will be hosted in Taipei on Friday, October 28, during the 3rd Taiwan International Queer Film Festival (October 22 to 30, 2016). The theme for this year’s TIQFF is “Let’s Connect.” The Queermosa Awards are the first-ever LGBT awards ceremony in Taiwan, recognizing the contributions and efforts celebrities made in Taiwanese media to raise the awareness and visibility of LGBT community.

Inspired by the GLAAD Media Awards, the Queermosa Awards consulted with GLAAD in creating the program. “Media is the storyteller of our society and when it honors its agency with fair and accurate reporting of LGBT stories and diverse programming that includes multi-faceted LGBT characters, there comes the opportunity to reshape our own culture,” said Lay Lin, CEO of Portico Media and Festival Founder & Director of TIQFF.

“The movement for LGBTQ acceptance continues to go global,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President & CEO. “We are happy to share what we have learned through the GLAAD Media Awards to help the QUEERMOSA Awards both celebrate the outstanding LGBTQ media representations in Taiwan and use those images to accelerate acceptance for the LGBTQ Taiwanese community.”

Check out the Queermosa Awards introduction film in English:

Or in Mandarin:

The Queermosa Awards have received enormous support from celebrities in Taiwan. Ella, a member of the super girl group S.H.E., is the TIQFF Festival Ambassador 2016. She has publically stated,

“I know so many talented LGBT friends who don’t get the respect they deserve, at work or at home. I hope that with however little power I have, I can use my platform to raise awareness on the challenges they face and to shine some light on their stories.”

The nominations include several Chinese celebrities. Pop divas a-Mei, Jolin Tsai and Golden Bell winning host Kang-yong Tsai are nominated for the Generation Award. Dee Hsu, Sodagreen, Mayday and Denise Ho, all of whom are big names in current Taiwan music industry, are nominated for the Queer Icon Award for developing a huge LGBT fan base and speaking up for LGBTQ community.

Awards categories include,

• Generation Award
• Queer Icon Award
• Internet Phenomenon Award
• Entrepreneur Award
• Pioneer Award
• LGBT Friendly Business Award
• Asia Pacific Short Film Award
• Outstanding Chinese-Language TV Series Award
• Outstanding Visual Design Award
• Outstanding Journalism Award

Queermosa will bring attention to the Asian LGBTQ community and encourage more Asian media and celebrities to support full LGBTQ equality and acceptance. Queermosa’s founder, Jay Lin, is also the founder of the Asian Pacific Queer Film Festival Alliance. His organization supports LGBT film festivals in Myanmar, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, China, India, Australia, South Korea, Indonesia, and Japan.

Click here to learn more about Queermosa and get tickets.