The recent hearing of a lawsuit brought against a bookstore owner for selling erotic gay magazines two years ago has put the issue of pornography and homosexuality on the table.
Lai Jeng-jer (賴正哲), proprietor of Gin Gin's, a Taipei store specializing in gay and lesbian literature, was charged in 2003 with violating Article 235 of the Criminal Code, which states, "A person who distributes, sells, publicly displays, or by other means shows to another person in an indecent writing, drawing, or other [work] shall be punished."
Keelung Customs officers confiscated more than 200 magazines imported by the bookstore in 2003. Later the same year, the Keelung District prosecutors went to the bookstore and took away more than 500 magazines, including some that are legally published in Hong Kong as well as His, a local publication.
The matter proceeded to a second hearing on March 15. The judge and Lai, accompanied by his lawyer, had a fierce debate on the issue of indecency over the photos in 101 magazines that contain what the Publication Appraisal Foundation defined as indecent pictures and content, Lai told the Taipei Times during a telephone interview yesterday.
"The judge and the foundation said that the erect penises shown in the magazines are unnatural, and words like sperm are indecent, which I found ridiculous," Lai said.
"According to health education textbooks, an erect penis is a natural response any normal man has. It is wrong to demonize human body parts with terms such as indecency," he said.
Unable to reach any conclusion, the Keelung District decided to continue the hearing and reach a verdict in April.
Gay-rights advocates and gender issues experts have questioned the judgment of both the Keelung District judge and the Publication Appraisal Foundation for defining the photos as indecent and an offense against morality.
They call the case an example of the demonization and dehumanization of gay and lesbian groups.
It also reveals issues of homophobia and the myth of the male body under patriarchal ideology, they said.
"Prosecutors determined that the photos of nude male bodies in the gay magazines are indecent and abnormal, which is an judgment made under heterosexual values," said Wang Ping (王蘋), secretary general of the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan (
"In a patriarchal and heterosexual society, a male body, especially the penis, is a symbol of power. Exposing the male body to the public uncovers the myth about men and in some ways weakens their powers," she said.
Josephine Ho (何春蕤), an advisor to the Gender Sexuality Rights Association and dean of National Central University's English Department, said that the reviews of the magazines by the Publication Appraisal Foundation and also the Measure Governing the Rating Systems of Publications and Pre-recorded Video Programs are both based on heterosexual ideology.
"The reviews suggested that normal people would feel ashamed or annoyed seeing those photos. However, gay people may have different reactions to male nudity than heterosexual people," Ho said.
According to Ho, the interpretation of pornography varies and depends on the development of gender culture in the society. It is only subjective and groundless speculation to claim those photos have a negative influence on normal people.
Ho said that the legal battle Lai faces, as well as the lawsuit brought against her by conservative groups over the link to a "Beast Love" Web site on her academic research web page, show the limited room for open-minded and rational discussion and display of sexual issues in society.
The suit against Ho was filed in 2003 by a group of activists, lawyers, teachers and parents objecting to Ho's having posted a link to a site detailing intercourse between humans and animals, on the Web page of National Central University's Center for the Study of Sexuality, where Ho has served as director for four years.
Prosecutors at the Taipei District Court later declared Ho not guilty of offenses against morality last year.
"I urge the public to reconsider the terms `pornography' and `obscenity' in our criminal code, as they are outdated, and also to get to know sexual images and culture from a modern-day perspective," Ho said.
Wu Ming-hsuan (吳銘軒), spokesperson for the Coalition Against Pseudo-Rating Regulations, agreed.
"The need for sexual information will never stop, and the definition of pornography remains a debatable issue. However, the government and conservative groups should stop playing the role of regulator and banning pornography," said Wu.
"It is important for a democratic society to respect the freedom to read, and accept the existence of exotic and different voices or ideologies," he added.
Lai said the recent release of the original cut of noted director Tsai Ming-liang's (
"If the government and the public recognized the film's artistry, they should be able to accept the photo display or written words of human body parts or sexual behaviors, such as penis, oral sex, or sperm, which are natural and nothing to be ashamed of," said Lai.
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
RSS