Disappointment with the nation’s two major political parties for overlooking gay rights, despite repeated promises, will be the main theme of this year’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) parade in Taipei on Saturday.
“Politicians always say that they support the gay rights movement during election campaigns, but their support never turns into real action once they get elected,” Ann Tung (童楚楚), convener-in-chief of this year’s LGBT Pride Parade in Taipei told a press conference yesterday morning.
She said that during the last presidential campaign, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) appeared in a press conference right before the LGBT Pride Parade in 2007 announced his support for gay rights.
KMT
“In 2003, when Ma was mayor of Taipei, he said publicly that the city government had no problem with legalizing gay marriage once the central government allowed it and the Legislative Yuan revised relevant laws,” Tung said. “Now that he’s heading the central government, is he doing anything to improve gay rights or push for legalizing gay marriage?”
J.J. Lai (賴正哲), the owner of Gin Gin’s Bookstore, the country’s first bookstore specializing in books, music and DVDs related to homosexual topics, said that recently Ma still boasted about having organized a LBGT festival during his term as Taipei mayor.
“But what is he doing now — with more power as president — to promote gay rights?” Lai asked.
DPP
As for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tung said that although the DPP took power with the promise to make Taiwan a “human rights state” in 2000 and drafted a human rights bill that included clauses to protect gay rights, “the promise remained an empty one as the human rights bill never became law and was never even sent to the legislature for review.”
Hence, participants in this year’s parade will hold up a giant blue banner and a giant green banner — representing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the DPP — to make an “X” sign over a dark heart to express their disappointment at the two parties’ “dark-hearted” promises, organizers of this year’s parade told a news conference yesterday morning.
“We understand that there are a lot of obstacles to overcome and we don’t expect things to change overnight,” Lai said. “But the government and the politicians should keep their words by making at least some small changes.”
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
RSS