Revision of the gender law proposed

"The amendment to the law would just be the first step toward improving the rights of people with different gender identifications."

Tseng Chao-yuan, director of the Awakening Foundation

Human-rights said yesterday the Gender Equality in Employment Law (兩性工作平等法) should go beyond traditional gender roles and include employment rights of people with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations in its regulations.

In an attempt to push for the amendment of the law to protect employees with different gender identities, GLBT (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender), women's rights advocates, and legislators joined together yesterday to call on society to create a friendlier and safe workplace for sexual minorities.

"Surviving a sexually discriminatatory workplace has always been a big obstacle for the GLBT community even with the passage of the law, which limits the definition of gender roles to only men and women," said the director of public affairs from the Taiwanese Tongzhi Hotline Association Ashley Wu (巫緒樑) yesterday.

During a press conference to call for strengthening the law, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislators Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) and Huang Wei-tze (黃偉哲) put on dresses and wore high heels to show their respect and support for the sexual minorities, while pledging to propose an amendment to the law in the Legislative Yuan.

Having experience of dressing up as a woman for shooting advertisements or other events before, Cheng said that criticism of his "sissy image" has made him realize the pressure and suffering that GLBT people face.

"Many Western countries have been working on creating a friendlier work environment for people with diverse sexual orientations. With gays being elected as mayors in countries like Germany and France, I think Taiwan should follow their direction and embrace all sexual minorities in the workplace, starting with amending the law," he added.

The Gender Equality in Employment Law, which became effective on International Women's Day in 2002, prohibits the creation of a "hostile sexual environment" created by any person who uses speech or behavior that amounts to requesting sexual favors or showing gender discrimination, thereby infringing upon or interfering with the dignity, personal freedom, or work performance of the individual.

Three into the passage of the law, however, the implementation of its regulations has been questioned by human rights groups.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Interior last year, there have been 146 complaints of sexual harassment or discrimination filed by employees over the last three years, in which 133 cases were filed in Taipei. A total of 16 counties and cities hadn't received any complaints in the matter.

"If men and women have been afraid to file any complaints against their companies for the past years, imagine how much harder it must be for members of the GLBT community to stand up and fight sexual discrimination against them in the workplace," Tseng Chao-yuan (曾昭媛), director of the Awakening Foundation, a women's rights group, said.

In 1993, a male kindergarten teacher filed a complaint against his employer for firing him because he dressed like a woman. The ruling of the Gender Equality Employment Committee of the Taipei City Labor Affairs Bureau favored the plaintiff, declaring that the employer's decision violated the law.

Contrary what advocates called the "innovative ruling" of the case, two transgender committed suicide after having faced continual sexual discrimination in the workplace and layoffs illustrated that there is still a long way to go to break the gender stereotype and promote sexual minorities' employment rights, according to the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association.

"The amendment to the law would just be the first step toward improving the rights of people with different gender identifications. To better implement the law, we need to educate those who execute and enforce the law on the concept of gender equality, as well as help people with diverse sexual orientations find acceptance in society," Tseng said.