The Ministry of Environment today said it is to invest NT$280 million (US$8.76 million) over the next four years to double the number of gender-neutral public bathrooms nationwide.
The ministry held a news conference announcing the project to increase the number of gender-neutral bathroom facilities between next year and 2029 from 623 to 1,246.
About 13,000 transgender and gender-neutral people contributed to the Gender Equality Committee’s survey on LGBTQ+ issues last year.
Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times
Of those who reported experiencing discrimination or fraught situations, 17 percent occurred in public restrooms or changing rooms.
The ministry last year released guidelines for creating friendlier restroom facilities for families and disabled people, which includes lighting, emergency button and other requirements, Environmental Management Administration Director-General Yen Hsu-ming (顏旭明) said.
Yet there are also gender inequalities in restrooms, Yen said.
For example, women often need to line up while there is no wait for the men’s room, while others experience discomfort when accompanying a person of another gender requiring care into a restroom, he said.
Creating gender-neutral restrooms would also respect gender diversity and provide a safe and dignified bathroom environment for all, he added.
There are currently about 44,000 public restrooms under government management, Yen said.
Localities would be given funding to either renovate or build new facilities in suitable locations such as markets and transport stations, he said, adding that funding would not be available for private entities.
According to the ministry’s public restroom satisfaction survey last year, about 69 percent of respondents said they have no problem with gender-neutral facilities, Yen said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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