It is utterly laughable and contemptible how the Taiwanese authorities recently allowed to be shown in public a film (The Wayward Cloud) in which a man has fellatio performed on him, yet these same authorities cracked down on a gay and lesbian bookstore owner for selling "indecent" material ("Activists blast bookstore verdict," Date page 2). The owner is being subjected to the clutches of homophobic and patriarchal laws that are clearly outdated.
The Wayward Cloud won an award at the 55th annual Berlin Film Festival and received the "Fipresci Award" -- given by judges from the International Federation of Film Critics.
To allow this film to be viewed in public, and then charge and convict Lai Jeng-jer (
It is evident that dictators don't exist only on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. The Wayward Cloud was allowed to be made public to reinforce heterosexual values. But to try to prevent "other" sexualities from entering the public domain, the ignorant and narrow-minded authorities charged and convicted Lai with committing indecency.
Let's look at a hard facts about this so-called "indecency" stuff. First, there is statistical evidence that shows heterosexual couples are much more likely than gays and lesbians to commit acts of violence on their spouses and children. Heterosexual people reign where violence is concerned. Any idiot can throw a punch, but it takes a bigger person to walk away. So who is "indecent"?
Second, homosexuality threatens the old bastions of patriarchal rule. Hence this homophobic persecution. Homosexuality threatens the survival of a soul-stifling, warmongering ethic. I can imagine batallions of heterosexual men running to the beaches to save Taiwan from a heterosexual invasion, but I cannot imagine the same when I think about gays and lesbians.
For I believe they are stronger, and have much better things to do.
Kevin Larson
Chiayi City
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