Musician and actress Enno Cheng came out as lesbian in a 2016 Facebook post in which she also announced that she had divorced her husband, former bandmate Sam Yang, whom she married in 2013. “Sam has a great heart and has shown me unconditional understanding and tolerance,” she wrote. “The fact is I cannot love his body. This is not his fault, but is because I like women’s bodies.” Cheng explained that her sexual orientation had always been “blurry”.
Aaron Yan
In 2018, singer and actor Aaron Yan was dramatically outed by a jealous boyfriend who released to the media photos and text messages alleging that the star was dating two other men. Before this, Yan had never publicly revealed his sexuality.
Yan’s manager at first claimed the photos were fake, but the heartthrob immediately released a statement of apology, saying, “I am deeply sorry for failing to properly manage my private life, causing it to be revealed in such a way. I’ve always treated everyone with sincerity, but I’m also an ordinary person with my own shortcomings, failings, and feelings.” Yan did not address the two-timing allegations but vowed to grow as a person from the incident.
Did you know these 7 celebrities all came out as LGBTQ+ in 2020?
Hush
Chen Jia-wei, the singer known as Hush, came out publicly during a concert in April 2015. But it wasn’t until May 23, 2019 – the day before Taiwan’s same-sex marriage law took effect – that he finally mustered the courage to discuss it with his parents. In an emotional Facebook post, Hush wrote that they reacted positively, saying, “We are very happy that finally this day has come, that are you willing to face us. There is no need to say sorry to us, we’ve always known the truth.”
Yee Chih-yen
Film director Yee Chih-yen came out via a 2016 Facebook post during Taiwan’s contentious fight for marriage equality. Yee, now aged 60, wrote that an article by journalist Fan Chi-fei encouraging middle-aged gay people to have the courage to come out inspired him to act. He’d never revealed his sexual orientation earlier since his parents struggled to understand it, the Taipei Times reported. Yee wrote, “Life is short. Don’t let the opportunity to better understand your loved ones pass you by.” He also posted a photo of actress Gwei Lun-mei and actor Chen Bolin, the stars of his movie Blue Gate Crossing, holding a placard in support of marriage equality.
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Tsai Ming-liang
Director Tsai Ming-liang had always refused to discuss his sexuality, saying he didn’t want his works to be categorised as “LGBTQ films” – even though many have queer themes. But in recent years he has become more relaxed about this, telling the South China Morning Post in 2016: “It’s a learning process, learning to accept homosexuality and myself.”
In the 2015 documentary Afternoon, Tsai candidly asks his long-time leading man Lee Kang-sheng, who is straight, whether his sexual orientation has ever bothered him. Tsai also made an appearance onstage at the rally when Taiwan’s same-sex marriage law became effective, in May 2019.
Did you know all these celebrities identify as LGBTQ+?
Kevin Tsai
Television personality, writer and director Kevin Tsai became the first male Taiwanese celebrity to come out publicly, in 2001, when asked about his sexuality on a TV talk show. Then 14 years later, in 2015, Tsai cried on the Chinese talk show Qi Pa Shuo, admitting that it had been lonely as a pioneer, and that he usually advises others in show business not to come out.
“I wish there could be more people with me, instead of being the only one thriving in the business whenever we speak of homosexuality,” he said. “The only thing I can do is to prove to worried parents who are watching that we are not monsters and we can still live a good life.”
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