Taipei – Religious conservatives in Taipei City yesterday beat gay activists to the punch, leading an anti-gay march ahead of next week’s scheduled gay pride parade, local media reported.

In a city renown for its tolerance and support of gay rights,  the march saw  2,000 members of various homophobic Christian denominations including Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist groups taking part, said a report by the Central News Agency (CNA).

Gay rights supporters did not shy away from a counter-protest, with many of them carrying crosses, a symbol of burden, on their backs, said the report.

The group congregated in front of the Office of the President yesterday afternoon before traveling to Liberty Square, where a mass prayer meeting was held to propagate the message of “purifying the skies of Taiwan.”

Presbyterian pastor Chen Yu-chuan was cited as sayng that pro-gay groups have been throwing similar events since 2005 under partial funding from the Department of Civil Affairs under the Taipei City Government.

The scheduled gay parade on October 31 expects a turnout of 20,000, said Chen, before adding in total ignorance that he doubted that the gay population of Taiwan is that large.

He said the march led by Christian followers is to assist people in walking out of homosexuality as well as to provide counseling.

The growing gay demographic has caused young adults to now carry skewed perspectives towards gender and marriage, breaking hearts of many concerned parents along the way, Chen added.

Guo Sheng-jie, a member of the team organizing next week’s “All My Gay” parade, pointed out that the religious march equates to crucifying homosexuals.

To ensure that the other side of the debate is also heard, a clergyman was enlisted alongside picketers to preach to conservatives to embrace all of God’s children including the gay community, said the CNA. Pro-gay groups will issue a formal response addressing the march later today, Guo said.