For Concordia Middle School math teacher Janet Huang, 45, there is no formula explaining why God trapped her in a man's body.
For modern medical science, however, freeing Huang from her corporal cage is as simple as adding and subtracting above and below the waist, respectively.
"Since I was three or four, I've felt like a female," Huang said to CtiTV yesterday following a scandal over whether Huang's Christian school in Chiayi County would fire her for seeking "sex reassignment."
Although her metamorphosis from man to woman isn't unique in a country boasting a few transexual celebrities, Huang's case puts the phenomenon of sex change in an everyday, small-town light.
Huang isn't young and sexy like TV talk show host and former man Li Jing (
Huang probably can't belt out a tune, either, like transexual singer Tang Fei (
Huang, a homely teacher in rural Taiwan, drives home the reality of how a community reacts to a husband and father of four deciding to dress in drag, grow breasts and trade in his penis for a vagina.
"One day in class, before I announced that I intended to get a sex change, a student said to me, `Mr Huang, your chest is getting big!'" Huang was quoted as saying in reference to his estrogen therapy.
Huang said he has been popping hormone pills for two decades in an attempt to grow breasts.
Stoking a media maelstrom was Huang's recent announcement that he is seeking sex reassignment, a two-year process of medical evaluations culminating in a surgical operation.
The local media has reported that Concordia was nonplussed by the announcement and pressured Huang to quit after 17 years of teaching at the school.
Speaking to the Taipei Times, a secretary to the school's principal yesterday rebutted reports that the school had pressured Huang to quit.
"We have a counselor helping Teacher Huang through the evaluation process," the secretary said on the condition of anonymity.
In a statement yesterday, Huang confirmed that Concordia hadn't tried to fire him, and that the counselor wasn't "keeping tabs" on him, as some reports said.
However, Huang said that he felt pressure when the school allegedly asked him if he wanted to resign.
"I don't feel that [my superiors seek] to provide me with psychological counseling; my mental state is stable," Huang added.
Also receiving "counseling" are Huang's students, who are experiencing mixed reactions to Huang's gradual transformation, the secretary said.
"Teacher Huang's colleagues and students are reacting differently to this. Some support his decision, others oppose it," the source said, adding that Huang's rights as an employee would be protected.
How much at loggerheads Huang is with his school and family over his plans to become a woman isn't clear beyond official statements.
What is clear, however, is that Huang represents the reality of changing sexes in a society used to seeing transexuals on TV, not in the classroom.
And while Huang's change draws media spotlight, more significant changes are afoot in the thinking of his colleagues, students, children and wife, who are said to be learning to accept Huang for what he, or she, is: a good person.
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
The presence of Taiwanese politicians at China’s military parade tomorrow would send the wrong message to Beijing and the international community about Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy, a national security official said yesterday. China is to hold the parade tomorrow to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. By bringing together leaders of “anti-West” governments such as Russia, North Korea, Iran and Belarus, the parade aims to project a symbolic image of an alliance that is cohesive and unbending against Western countries, the national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu
RSS