More than 40 percent of Taiwanese reported having gay relatives or friends, a survey released yesterday by the Taiwan Equality Campaign showed.
The survey found that 43.2 percent of the 1,083 respondents said they know of family members or friends who are gay, up 5 percentage points from last year.
“People who recognize the identity of their relatives and friends tend to show more support for related issues,” said Wong Yu-cin (翁鈺清), the group’s advocacy and civic engagement project manager.
Photo: CNA
Since Taiwan’s legalization of same-sex marriage on May 24, 2019, the group has released an annual survey around that date to track the public’s evolving views on LGBTQ+ issues.
This year’s results showed that support for same-sex marriage fell to 54.3 percent, down 2.2 percentage points from last year’s record high.
The belief that people should have equal rights to same-sex marriage regardless of nationality slid 1.4 points to 62.9 percent.
Support for the right of same-sex couples to adopt children edged down 0.4 points to 65.7 percent.
The declines suggest that although more gay people are coming out, the government still has work to do in raising public understanding and support, Wong said.
The poll showed that 57.7 percent of respondents support allowing lesbian couples to have children through assisted reproduction, down 3.7 points from last year.
Meanwhile, 43.1 percent supported the right of gay male couples to use a surrogate to have a child, 2.9 points lower than last year.
Wong urged the government to pass a revised draft of the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法), proposed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare late last year. The act would allow lesbian couples and single women to access assisted reproduction.
The survey also found that 77.2 percent of respondents said they would be accepting of gay classmates or colleagues, and 71.5 percent said they would be accepting of gay teachers or supervisors, while 68.8 percent expressed support for gay political representatives.
The survey was conducted from April 7 to 9 among adults aged 18 or older.
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