About 43.2 percent of Taiwanese have an LGBTQ+ friend or family member, up 5 percent from last year, although support for marriage equality has dipped slightly, Taiwan Equality Campaign said today.
As this month marks six years since Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage, the campaign held a news conference to share the results of its annual survey on public attitudes toward LGBTQ+ issues.
Acceptance of adoption, marriage equality and international same-sex marriage saw a slight decline this year, the group’s advocacy and civic engagement project manager Wong Yu-cing (翁鈺清) said.
Photo: CNA
Although LGBTQ+ figures continue to be visible and courageous, slowed momentum in advancing government policy can be attributed to the public’s lack of understanding, she said.
However, support for children learning about gender equality in schools continues to rise, surpassing 70 percent this year thanks to continued investment in gender equality education, the survey found.
More than 60 percent of respondents accepted having LGBTQ+ people in their lives and more than 70 percent support LGBTQ+ people holding public office, it found.
Support for married lesbian couples using assisted reproductive technology such as vitro fertilization (IVF) is still above 50 percent this year, compared to 43.1 percent for married gay couples, Wong said.
The government announced plans at the end of last year to amend the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) to allow female same-sex couples and single women to access IVF.
However, if the proposed amendments remain in limbo, it could increase opposition and apathy, making it difficult for society to come together on the issue, Wong added, urging the government to amend the act as soon as possible.
The survey showed higher support among younger people for same-sex couples’ use of assisted reproduction, National Taiwan University sociology professor Wu Chia-ling (吳嘉苓) said.
First legalizing use of IVF for single women and lesbian couples is the best first step to allowing more inclusive fertility policies, she said, adding that it should be decoupled from the issue of surrogacy.
The survey results showed that public support for LGBTQ+ policies is “stable,” while public satisfaction rates for same-sex marriage and adoption remain high, Taipei City Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) said, adding that this year’s decline falls within the margin of error.
She said she hopes that future efforts would build on this strong foundation to continue advancing policy and engaging in dialogue with society.
The poll was conducted via telephone by Trend Survey & Research Co last month, surveying 1,083 Taiwanese aged 18 or older, with a 2.98 percent margin of error and 95 percent confidence level.
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