On May 3, thousands of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders (LGBT) and supporters marched through Greater Kaohsiung to participate in the fifth Kaohsiung LGBT Parade (高雄同志大遊行), to raise public awareness and demand gay rights. But officials and politicians seem to have paid little attention to their call.
Earlier last month, Japan’s LGBT community also held a gay parade in Tokyo, successfully attracting much international attention thanks to the participation of Japan’s first lady Akie Abe, who stood on a moving float with a drag queen.
“I want to help build a society where anyone can conduct happy, enriched lives without facing discrimination,” Abe wrote on her Facebook page. I can’t help but wonder: why couldn’t Taiwan’s first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) and politicians have taken part in the parade in Greater Kaohsiung?
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, TT
Taiwan’s first gay parade took place in Taipei in 2003. Since then, the LGBT community has held gay parades in major cities nationwide. These carnival-like events raise public awareness about homosexuality, yet they seemingly fail to have any effect on policy. Both former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) pledged to protect gay rights before their election, but they have done nothing during their presidencies (Ma still has two years).
To adopt a more proactive and hopefully effective approach, LGBT activists established the Lobby Alliance for LGBT Human Rights (同志人權法案遊說聯盟) this month. According to Convener Wang An-i (王安頤), the alliance will be “a very dynamic action group.” The group aims to promote the legalization of same-sex marriage, support gay-friendly companies and encourage homosexuals to come out.
Wang also launched a Web site (www.pridewatch.tw) to monitor the attitudes politicians have toward gay rights, pressuring them to reveal their stances while urging voters not to vote for homophobic candidates in the year-end elections.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, TT
Other LGBT groups have also taken more aggressive action. The Taiwan International Association for Gay Rights (台灣國際同志權益促進會) frequently holds press conferences in front of the Legislative Yuan to demand that the law-making body put the draft bill for marriage equality on its agenda soon. It has also launched a petition to urge local and international businesses to provide homosexual couples the same treatment as heterosexual couples, and it has already received some positive feedback.
According to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the association’s chairman, they have contacted several international companies in Taiwan, and so far IBM, Google and Microsoft have said that they will take the same stance as their headquarters in the US to support gay rights.
“In addition to foreign companies, we would like to call on Taiwanese companies to do the same,” Chen said. The association plans to contact top Taiwanese companies next. Perhaps it can start with HTC Corporation, whose chairwoman Cher Wang (王雪紅) reportedly donated more than NT$2 billion to the Bread of Life Christian Church in Shilin (士林靈糧堂), which strongly opposes gay rights, especially gay marriage.
Meanwhile, pushed by LGBT groups, the Ministry of Education (MOE) promised to promote gender equality on International Day Against Homophobia on May 17. Outrageously, Taipei Municipal Jieshou Junior High School (介壽國中) recently invited a group of religious activists to air Smiling Cross (微笑Cross), an anti-gay video funded by the Passion 99 Harvest Church (熱力九九豐收教會). This raises serious questions about human rights and the blurring of the relationship between church and state.
Three days after International Day Against Homophobia, a gay student at National Chung Hsing University (中興大學) committed suicide by jumping off a school building after the university administration repeatedly rejected his complaint about a teacher’s discrimination against him.
“I want to safeguard my sexual identity with my death,” the student wrote. The student’s death should cause those at the MOE to seriously consider if they are doing enough to protect the rights of gay students.
To prevent such tragedies, a more aggressive approach may be necessary. Taiwan’s gay movement is undergoing a transformation as LGBT groups ramp up the pressure on the government and corporations.
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