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.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS