On March 28th at noon, GTI held its first Civil Society and Democracy series event of the year titled, “Gender and LGBTQ Equality in Taiwan.” This year’s Civil Society and Democracy Series’ theme is ‘Taiwan’s global impact’, in which each panel for the year will examine an issue relevant to Taiwan that is also global in nature. In terms of gender equality, Taiwan made international headlines when Tsai Ing-wen was elected president in 2016, the first woman to hold that office in Taiwan. President Tsai is also unique in that among the few women who are heads of state in Asia, she is not part of a political family dynasty. Taiwan also came into the international spotlight for LGTBQ rights in 2017 when Taiwan’s Constitutional Court paved the way for the legalization of same-sex marriage, poising Taiwan to be the first in Asia to achieve marriage equality. However, despite the impressive achievements Taiwan has made in terms of gender and LGBTQ equality, there are many aspects of society and politics in which women and sexual minorities still suffer from discrimination and exclusion. GTI had a great panel that discussed these issues: Dr. Shu-Ling Hwang, Chairperson of the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation, and Dr. Chloe Schwenke, professor at the University of Maryland and formerly of the International Center for Research on Women. The speakers discussed Taiwan’s achievements thus far on gender and LGBTQ rights, areas for future improvement, and how it impacts the global fight for equality.