The 2025 Taiwan LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Workplace Index was released on Tuesday, with 59 companies and organizations, including local government agencies participating for the first time, recognized as inclusive workplaces for gender minorities.
Following its first edition in 2023, this year’s index drew on self-assessment forms submitted by participating employers. It also reviewed the measures they had taken over the past two years to advance LGBTIQ+ inclusion in the workplace.
At a press event in Taipei, Juan Mei-ying (阮美嬴), director of marketing at the Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBTQ+) Hotline Association, one of the two organizations that compiled the index, said that five main areas were evaluated for the 63 entities that took part in this year’s index.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Equality Campaign
Under the main areas of “commitment,” “policies and benefits,” “internal communities and support systems,” “internal training/advocacy,” and “external impact/advocacy,” 59 participants earned high enough scores to be recognized as “LGBTIQ+ inclusive workplaces,” while four others failed to meet the threshold, she said.
Citing “commitment” as an example, Juan said the index looks at whether employers have made a clear commitment to supporting an LGBTIQ+-inclusive workplace, set it out in written policies, assigned dedicated staff to promote it, and translated it into concrete measures.
The score required to meet the threshold, however, was not made public.
According to the association’s secretary-general, Sean Du (杜思誠), the design of the index was modeled on similar standards in the United States and the Netherlands.
While the 59 recognized employers are mostly large multinational corporations and small- and medium-sized local businesses, three local government agencies -- the Taipei City Government, New Taipei City Government, and Kaohsiung’s Department of Tourism -- stood out as the first local authorities to take part in the index.
Kao Min-lin (高閔琳), director-general of Kaohsiung city’s tourism bureau, told CNA that her agency has organized empowerment-focused talks and courses to help its 180 civil servants “truly understand what gender equality and gender diversity mean.”
She also encouraged her colleagues to remake the office space, transforming it from a serious-looking government workplace into one filled with color and rainbow symbols.
Such efforts have made a difference, Kao said, noting that staff at the bureau have said that the changes to the workplace and other actions made them “feel safe and at ease working here.”
Citing previous survey results, Du said that many homosexual people, especially those working in the public sector or in education, do not feel comfortable coming out at work and may face pressure in their workplaces if they do.
Participation by public-sector agencies in the index, and their open support for LGBTIQ+-inclusive workplaces, is thus “highly meaningful” to the community, he said.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
PROCEDURE: Although there is already a cross-strait agreement in place for the extradition of criminals, ample notice is meant to be given to the other side first Ten Taiwanese who were involved in fraud-related crimes in China were extradited back to Taiwan via Kinmen County on Wednesday, four of whom are convicted fraudsters in Taiwan. The 10 people arrived via a ferry operating between Xiamen and Kinmen, also known as the “small three links.” The Kinmen County Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that four of the 10 extradited people were convicted in Taiwan for committing fraud and contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and were on the wanted list. They were immediately arrested upon arrival and sent to Kinmen Prison to serve their sentences following brief questioning, the office said.
‘REGRETTABLE’: Travelers reported that Seoul’s online arrival card system lists Taiwan as ‘China (Taiwan),’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday urged South Korea to correct the way Taiwan is listed in its newly launched e-Arrival card system, saying the current designation downgrades the nation’s status. South Korea rolled out the online system on Feb. 24 to gradually replace paper arrival cards, which it plans to phase out by next year. Travelers must complete the electronic form up to 72 hours before entering the country. The ministry said it has received multiple complaints from Taiwanese travelers saying that the system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in dropdown menus for both “place of departure” and “next
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
RSS