Taipei, Oct. 26 (CNA) A record-breaking 200,000 people marched through Taipei Saturday in a vivid and exciting annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pride parade, calling for the public to embrace the LGBT community, especially now that same-sex marriage has been legalized in Taiwan. The marchers brandished rainbow flags and sported flamboyant costumes as the 17th Taiwan LGBT Pride Parade, one of the largest in Asia, was launched from Taipei City Hall Plaza to Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office.

As of 5:30 p.m., organizers said the number of people attending the march had exceeded 200,000, setting a record for the march that was first held in 2003 and attracted only a few hundred participants.

Among the marchers were personnel from several foreign representative offices in Taiwan, including the United States, Australia, the European Union, the United Kingdom, France and Belgium.

Joyce Teng (鄧筑媛), deputy coordinator of the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan, one of the organizers of the parade, told CNA that the theme of this year's parade "Together, Make Taiwan Better" called for the public to understand and accept LGBT people, as more and more people have come out of the closet following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan in May.

"LGBT people might be your neighbors or someone that interacts with you on a daily basis, so we are calling for a more tolerant and understanding Taiwan," she said. Read more via Focus Taiwan