The 15th annual Taipei lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Pride Parade yesterday drew about 123,000 participants, according to organizers’ estimates, hitting a new record since it was first held in 2003.

At about 1pm yesterday, paraders flooded toward the event’s main stage on Ketagalan Boulevard with 160 attending groups — including the American Institute in Taiwan and 12 groups from Japan and South Korea — divided into nine groups marching along three different routes.

The western route proceeded on Gongyuan Road (公園路), the northern on Zhongshan S Road (中山南路) and the southern on Xinyi Road (信義路).

After a two-hour parade from 2:30pm to 4:30pm, revelers returned to the boulevard for musical performances and group speeches until about 7:30pm.

Event organizer Taiwan LGBT Pride Community used the event to promote sex education, saying students should have access to diversified education about different sexual orientations and gender differences.

When people are familiar with different sexual orientations across the spectrum, they will be less likely to discriminate against others who are different from themselves, Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association spokesperson Chuang Shu-ching (莊淑靜) said.