Major party candidates should take a clear position on marriage equality, legislative candidates from the Green-Social Democratic Party Alliance (Green-SDP Alliance) said yesterday.
“Gay voters have been deceived by politicians for too long, so we hope all presidential and legislative candidates can show sincerity and stop throwing curveballs to voters,” Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Miao Bo-ya (苗博雅) said.
“Be brave enough to tell the public what you really think in your heart and whether you support marriage equality. Only then will people have a clear basis for casting their ballots,” Miao said, criticizing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party for failing to state whether they would support legalizing same-sex marriage if they achieved a legislative majority.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights said it would establish a “Rainbow Front,” inviting the nation’s more than 400 legislative candidates to sign pledges to support three draft bills to legalize “diverse family formation,” as well as publishing an online record of candidates’ public statements and votes on gay rights issues.
Miao urged gay voters to vote against candidates with anti-gay records, saying that only if they were forced to pay at the ballot box could there be effective improvements to same sex rights.
SDP legislative candidate Lu Hsin-chieh (呂欣潔), known for her flashy rainbow earrings, said that when she decided to run, some people advised her to downplay her background as a gay rights activist with the Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBT) Hotline Association.
However, “to us, homosexual identity is an important part of life,” she said.
Lu said that while she was originally concerned that her background would negatively influence her campaign, she had received a lot of positive feedback on the trail, whether from stall vendors in traditional markets or parents outside of elementary schools.
Other candidates featured included Green Party Taiwan’s Jia Bo-kai (賈伯楷) and Victoria Hsu (許秀雯). Homosexual candidates make up five of the Green-SDP alliance’s 16 candidates.
In related news, the Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBT) Hotline Association yesterday announced that the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) conference in Asia is to be held for the first time in Taiwan, with 300 activists from 30 countries participating.
Ashley Wu (巫緒樑), a director of the association, said the 6th ILGA-Asia Regional Conference would be held at the Chientan Overseas Youth Activity Center in Taipei from tomorrow to Friday. ILGA stands for International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.
The conference will discuss issues such as marital equality, AIDS and the progress made by LGBT families in Taiwan at its workshops, and have people share their experiences.
ILGA co-secretary general Ruth Baldacchino said that the problems and discrimination faced by the LGBT community in the past remain in place, and she hoped the gathering would help LGBT activists work together to better address those issues.
Additional reporting by CNA
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
RSS