Two months of Gay and Lesbian Awakening Day (GLAD) events drew to a close yesterday with gay and lesbian college groups presenting the results of GLAD 2004 while criticizing government repression of sexual identity expression.
The nine-year-old event was organized by 13 college groups this month and last, and included events such as a film festival and a literary and artistic expression competition. The event has traditionally focused on spreading awareness and encouraging dialogue about gay issues.
In light of government actions against the gay community, however, such as the confiscation of magazines from gay bookstore Gin Gin's last year and the recent lawsuit against controversial feminist Josephine Ho (何春蕤) for placing a bestiality link on her website, this year's GLAD organizers decided to speak out.
The groups yesterday advocated placing nude male photos in male restrooms as a symbolic attack on Article 235 of the Criminal Code (中華民國刑法), which states that anyone found distributing indecent audio, visual or written materials faces prosecution.
"Article 235 has been used recently to repress personal expression, so we advocated putting nude photos in public restrooms to expose the ridiculousness of the government's claims," said Kao Yi-chao (高穎超), an event organizer and graduate student in National Taiwan University's sociology department.
"It seems very natural to see nudity in commonplace situations; for example, in bathrooms or pools. Why is it, then, that seeing the real thing is OK, but seeing material reproductions is not?" Kao said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
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