Taipei - Hundreds of Christians marched through Taipei Saturday to protest what they called the expanding influence of homosexuals in Taiwan.

Holding placards denouncing homosexuals, some 300 Christians marched from the presidential office building to Freedom Square, where they prayed for homosexuals to adopt the "correct lifestyle" and distributed pamphlets and T-shirts bearing the phrase "Jesus Is Coming Soon."

The march was organized by several Christian groups, including the Presbyterian church and Exodus, a US-based group which claims to be able to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals.

Reverend Chen Yu-chuan of the Presbyterian church said the march, held ahead of the October 31 annual gay pride march, was to counter the expanding influence of gay lifestyle in Taiwan.

"Since the first gay pride march was held in Taipei in 2005, with subsidy from the Taipei city Government, the gay march has been expanding each year. Some 20,000 people will take part in this year's march. Are all of them homosexuals? I doubt it," he said.

He said he suspects that some people have adopted the gay lifestyle, or even become gays, due to the media influence popularizing the homosexual lifestyle.

Dozens of homosexuals held a counter-rally in Freedom Square Saturday.

The gay protesters made speeches to demand equal rights and held up a huge (dpa)