Gender equality and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates on Tuesday screened a sex education film in Changhua City’s Nan Guan and Bei Guan Center as a counterprotest to a petition made by religious and parents’ groups to ban its screening at schools.
The film, titled Shall We Swim? (青春水漾) and produced by the Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association, was opposed by the Changhua County Alliance to Protect the Children.
The film probes adult-oriented topics, including same-sex and romantic relationships.
It was rated “parental guidance,” meaning children under the age of six are barred from viewing and adult supervision is required for those aged between six and 12.
The Changhua County Alliance to Protect the Children previously mounted an initiative at the Changhua County Council to garner signatures on a petition to bar the film from schools, saying it would corrupt children and promoted sexual activity among adolescents.
The public screening, which was organized by the producers and promoted by the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, was attended by about 100 people, including parents and students, who also participated in a post-screening conference.
The Changhua County Alliance to Protect the Children and supporters protested at the venue, holding up slogans that read: “Protect the Children of Changhua” and “Protest Against Pornography,” but they were kept out of the screening.
Alliance convenor Wu Chun-chen (吳君真) said the film was “inappropriate,” because its characters engaged in casual sex and homosexual activity.
Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association deputy chair Chuang Shu-ching (莊淑靜) said that the point of sex education is not to focus on the sex act, but to form an understanding of the body, self-protection and body autonomy.
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