May 17 was the International Day Against Homophobia, and organizers of the previous day’s Kaohsiung Pride Parade invited people with disabilities to participate. However, Chuang Ching-i, a member of the Alliance of Religious Groups for the Love of Families Taiwan, disagreed with the Kaohsiung Pride Parade’s invitation to disabled people, saying that it was already difficult enough for such people to gain social recognition and status, and that if they got themselves involved with gay issues they would be stigmatized by association. Chuang’s good friend Vincent Huang immediately issued a statement saying that, as disabled people, they should both have more empathy for the disadvantaged and speak out for them, but that Chuang had sided with “the oppressor” (heterosexuals), and that was why people with disabilities could not have lives of dignity and justice.
Huang took part in an experience-sharing event organized by the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, where he recounted how he caught polio soon after birth. He said that until the age of 29 he had done everything he could to be a “normal person”—challenged but not incapable—in the eyes of mainstream society. After coming to terms with his identity, he had pursued love courageously, he said.
Huang recalled that his parents could not believe that a person with disabilities could ever find a partner who was willing to take care of him for the rest of his life, until 16 years ago, when he met his current boyfriend. There was one time when he was sitting on the floor at home, mopping the floor with a duster, and his boyfriend angrily shouted at him, “I don’t want you to do this!” Huang sobbed as he said, “That was the first time in my life that I felt that there was someone, besides my mom, who cared so much about me.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者羅沛德
Huang stressed that he had not received more support from society because of his disability, but that it was when he accepted his identity as a gay man that many gay friends took very good care of him, and there were even many people who, seeing what life was like for the disabled, joined him in participating in the disabled people’s sexual rights movement. “My reason for speaking out is that I want society to know that there are people out there who are both gay and disabled, and I hope society will make an effort to understand and accept them,” he said.
(Liberty Times, translated by Ethan Zhan)
五月十七日是「國際不再恐同日」,前一天的高雄同志大遊行邀身障者共襄盛舉。然而護家盟的莊青一不認同高雄同志遊行納入身障者,認為身障者獲得社會認同與地位就已不易,若沾上同志議題,會被貼標籤或聯想。莊的好友黃智堅立刻發聲明表示,兩人同為身障者,應有更多同理心為弱勢發聲,但莊卻站在「壓迫者(異性戀)那一方」,是殘障者不能有尊嚴及公平人生的原因。
黃智堅現身伴侶盟舉辦的「彩虹好厝邊,做伙聽故事」,分享自己出生不久便患小兒麻痺,直到廿九歲前都在努力迎合主流社會眼中「殘而不廢」的「正常人」,他了解自己認同後,勇敢追愛。
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者羅沛德
黃智堅回憶,過去父母始終不相信身障者能找到願意照顧自己一輩子的另一半,直到十六年前遇見現任男友,有回自己坐在家中地上,拿抹布擦地,男友大罵「我不希望你如此」,他哽咽說,「除了母親,生命中第一次感受到有人如此關心我」。
黃智堅強調,自己沒有因殘障得到更多社會支持,反而接納自己同志身分後,真實地獲得同志朋友們的照顧,甚至許多人看到身障者處境,與他一起投身身障者性權運動,「我站出來就是想要讓社會知道殘障同志存在,並期許社會能進一步了解與接受」。
(自由時報記者蕭婷方)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
A: As well as Eid al-Fitr, Southeast Asia is celebrating the Water Festival this week. B: And this year, Thailand is expanding the celebration between April 12 and 16 for the event, officially known as the Songkran Festival, expecting to make 24.3 billion Thai baht in tourism revenue. A: Does Taiwan celebrate the Water Festival? B: Some local cities and counties do have similar activities. A: Let’s go experience the festival then. A: 除了「開齋節」外,東南亞「潑水節」本週也盛大登場! B: 泰國今年從4月12日到16日擴大「宋干節」連假,預估觀光收入可高達243億泰銖。 A: 台灣會慶祝「潑水節」嗎? B: 有些縣市會舉辦類似活動。 A: 那我們也去體驗一下吧。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)