May 24, 2019 marks the historical event when Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Taiwan has become a model for human rights and marital equality for other Asian countries.

As a tribute, this exhibit The Courage, presents the portraits of Chi Chia-wei, Josephine Chuen-juei Ho, Yu Mei-nu, Hsu No-sheng, Victoria Hsu and Lai Cheng-che who are important activists and have made significant contributions to LGBT rights in Taiwan.

Inspired by the research of LGBT rights in Taiwan, the poem is a narrative of the common struggle faced by the Asian LGBT community, focusing on the conflict between homosexuality and traditional Asian culture and family values. Most importantly Zhou’s message is the self-recognition of one’s identity. His wish is to eliminate the heterogeneous vision of sexual minorities and in turn, create mutual respect and equality for all.

About the artist

Tong Zhou is a Chinese-Canadian designer and artist based in Toronto.

His work blurs the division between commercial design and fine art, and often redefines traditional methods of image-making. Through a range of different media and aesthetic styles, Zhou uses his work to express his thoughts on sexuality, politics, humanity, and explore different perspectives of the relationships between people and their environments.