A Golden Bell Award winner has drawn ire for saying after the award ceremony that gay people will cause the destruction of humankind because of their “inability to procreate.”
After winning Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film on Saturday evening, Christian actor Li Tien-chu (李天柱) led the audience in prayer rather than giving an acceptance speech.
In an interview following the awards, Li said that he does not support homosexual relationships, adding that homosexuality will be the “destruction of humankind.”
Social Democratic Party spokesman Miao Bo-ya (苗博雅) criticized Li on Facebook, saying: “There are many types of relationships in which couples cannot reproduce, where is the logic in singling out homosexuals?”
“The cause of population decline is not homosexuality, it is a declining birthrate among heterosexual couples,” Miao wrote.
Miao said that if Li is truly concerned about the birthrate, he should petition the government to improve social services supporting new families, adding that this might allow young people to consider having children and give them the funds to raise children.
“Maybe I should congratulate Li on his win, but this is a tax-supported award, and the use of the public’s attention at this time to discriminate against others is something I, as a public servant, must condemn,” Miao said.
“Homosexual relationships have existed since early Greek civilization. If homosexuality causes the destruction of humankind, then what species are you?” exiled Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹) said on Facebook.
Wang said that if such comments were made at the Academy Awards in the US, the speaker would be booed off the stage, but when similar comments are made in Taiwan nobody protests.
“I guess this is evidence that there is still much room for progress in becoming a civilized society,” Wang said.
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
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