Although the Ministry of Education (MOE) has come under fire over educational materials that addressed gender equality and gay rights, gender equality and women’s groups expressed their support for the curriculum yesterday.
“I think this [objections from lawmakers] is the biggest setback [for education on gender equality] since the Gender Equality Education Act (性別平等教育法) was passed seven years ago,” Taiwan Gender Equality Education Association secretary-general Lai Yu-mei (賴友梅) told a news conference at the legislature in the morning.
“We can only root out [gender bullying] if everyone knows about homosexuality correctly — the gender equality curriculum is not a gender equality curriculum if the gay issue is excluded from it,” she said.
Lai was referring to objections from lawmakers across party lines, including Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝) and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), over the contents of the curriculum, which includes an introduction to diversity in sexual orientation.
Lawmakers, as well as representatives from some teachers’ and parents’ groups, have expressed concern that teaching elementary and junior high school students about diverse sexual orientations “too early” could “confuse” them.
However, Lee Shao-fen (李韶芬), who represented the Taiwan Domestic Partner Task Force, said: “Homosexuality itself is not a ‘problem,’ in fact conservative morality lies behind many social problems.”
Taiwan Adolescent Association on Sexualities secretary-general Hsu Fei-kai (許斐凱) said diverse sexual orientation at schools should not be overlooked and discrimination against gays was a serious problem in school.
“Not long ago, a high school lesbian couple committed suicide because their relationship was not tolerated by the school, their classmates or their families,” he said. “If we don’t teach our kids that everyone is equal regardless of their sexual orientation, tragedies like this will just continue to happen.”
Hsu also accused lawmakers and some groups of exaggerated statements about the curriculum.
For example, media reports citing remarks made by lawmakers against the curriculum claimed that part of the education included teaching students how to wash sex toys after their use.
“That’s not at all part of the curriculum,” he said.
In addition, many critics of the curriculum spoke as if there would be a separate class for sex -education, Hsu said.
“In reality, under the program teachers would only be asked to mention the importance of respecting people with different sexual orientations, whenever it’s appropriate,” he said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS