Covering National Taiwan University’s (NTU) landmark Fu Bell (傅鐘) in black, students advocating gay rights yesterday protested Taiwanese universities’ lack of action to promote gender equality and eliminate discrimination against gay students on campus.
At a press conference to launch the annual Gay and Lesbian Awakening Days (GLAD) — a series of events organized by gay rights advocacy groups at a number of universities to promote equality for students of different sexual orientations — those attending performed a skit in front of the bell about discrimination against gay students on campuses.
In the skit, a group of student actors wearing masks — symbolizing heterosexuals — ran into two gay students without masks.
They asked them to put on masks, but were rebuffed. They then used force to put masks on the two gay students as school officials stood by and watched.
The bell was erected to commemorate late university president Fu Si-nian (傅斯年), who is remembered as a defender of a more liberal campus environment. Fu resisted efforts by police and intelligence agents to arrest political dissident professors and students on campus during his term as president from January 1949 to December 1950.
Covering the bell symbolized the blindfolding of the school’s liberal tradition, the GLAD organizing team explained in a flyer.
“Discrimination against gay students on campus is still quite common in universities in this country,” a spokesman for GLAD who wanted to be known as Russell said. “Although other fellow students may not do anything physical to harm you if you’re gay, they may look at you in an odd way, or they may openly make fun of gays or use homophobic language.”
Russell called on universities to list more gender equality classes as required courses.
“At the moment, there are many gender-related courses, but mostly they are elective courses. I think it may help promote gender equality if they are listed as compulsory classes, so that all students are able to learn about it,” he said.
GLAD events include film screenings, lectures and dances at several universities including NTU, National Chengchi University, National Ocean University, National Chiaotung University and Soochow University.
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