--- description: Find out why Chi Chia-wei is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Chi Chia-wei: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15317be6321b8916/698a125716d8847f7fc389ee/time-100-Chi-Chia-wei.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Chi Chia-wei by Tsai Ing-wen  Veteran gay-rights activist ChI Chia-wei queing to cast his vote in local elections on 24 November 2018\. Included on the ballot are a range of referendum issues concerning gay rights issues, such as the teaching of LGBT themes at primary schools and legalisation of gay marriage. Creation Date: Veteran gay-rights activist ChI Chia-wei queing to cast his vote in local elections on 24 November 2018\. Included on the ballot are a range of referendum issues concerning gay rights issues, such as the teaching of LGBT themes at primary schools and legalisation of gay marriage. Creation Date:Chris Stowers—Panos Pictures Ask anyone who’s attended Taiwan Pride, and they can probably tell you about the first time they laid eyes on [Chi Chia-wei](https://qz.com/911288/after-fighting-for-30-years-taiwans-gay-rights-crusader-senses-victory-for-marriage-equality/ "undefined"), standing high above the crowds and waving a rainbow flag. That image exemplifies what he means to Taiwan’s LGBTQ+ community: a symbol of hope to the next generation, the living embodiment of the idea that it truly does get better. He began [advocating for marriage equality](https://time.com/5594339/taiwan-gay-rights/ "undefined") decades ago, at a time when civic advocacy could serve as grounds for imprisonment in Taiwan. Despite the danger, he repeatedly brought his case for [equal rights to the courts](https://time.com/4712037/enums/ "undefined"), and his persistence led to the Grand Justices’ constitutional interpretation ruling that required the government to [legalize same-sex marriage](https://time.com/5534318/taiwan-lgbt-same-sex-marriage-draft-law/ "undefined"), which took effect in 2019. Through the years, Chi has stood tall against immense prejudice with his larger-than-life courage. I’m confident that Chi will light the way to a future where everyone deserves to love and be loved. _Tsai is the President of Taiwan_ Chi Chia-wei Is on the 2020 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888257/chi-chia-wei/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888257/chi-chia-wei/"},"headline":"Chi Chia-wei","datePublished":"2020-09-22T19:29:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:37.667Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888257/chi-chia-wei/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Icons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15317be6321b8916/698a125716d8847f7fc389ee/time-100-Chi-Chia-wei.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15317be6321b8916/698a125716d8847f7fc389ee/time-100-Chi-Chia-wei.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888257/chi-chia-wei/","name":"Chi Chia-wei"}}]}] ```