Gay and lesbian groups yesterday urged candidates running for office in the Dec. 1 legislative elections that support homosexual rights to make themselves known.
Activists from several groups complained that, in a lively election campaign, they had not heard one proposal for legislation to protect homosexual rights.
"It is crucial that activists pursue legislation enforcing the protection of homosexual rights, for which they have fought for a decade in Taiwan," said Wang Ping (王蘋), secretary-general of the Gender Sexuality Rights Association (性別人權協會). She said gay and lesbian voters must ensure that their voices are heard and urged them to declare their support for homosexual rights.
At a press conference yesterday, the activists, who first staged a brief satirical sketch to highlight their complaints, promised to demand that candidates sign a declaration calling for legislation to protect homosexual rights.
A leading activist known by the pseudonym Gofyy (
"We would urge the homosexual community to show both the gay community's strengths and its needs by making the pursuit of their rights the top priority when voting, instead of the usual concern about whether a candidate is of mainland or Taiwanese origin," Gofyy said.
Activists began the campaign for gay and lesbian rights during elections in 1995. But Gofyy said the actions to be taken this year would be far better organized than the previous effort.
Wang said the 2001 Gay and Lesbian Campaign Observation Taskforce planned to present a declaration of support for legislation to protect gay and lesbian rights to legislative candidates in Taipei City and Taipei County for them to sign.
Activists intended to hold winning candidates who signed the declaration to their promise, she said.
The declaration demands the passage of an anti-discrimination bill, a gender-equality education bill and a registered partnership bill. The latter is intended to provide homosexual partners to enjoy the same legal rights, such as inheritance, as their heterosexual counterparts do under the marriage law.
It also demands support for a budget to promote homosexual rights and urges an end to discrimination against homosexuals by law-enforcement and other government agencies.
Activists have complained about frequent and hostile spot checks by the police at bus-inesses that target the gay and lesbian market.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique