The government should teach students about homosexuality and should introduce laws to protect the rights of gay people, advocacy groups said yesterday, following a poll showing that more than a quarter of gay people in the country had thought of committing suicide because of a hostile living environment.
The survey was conducted by the “Friendly Taiwan Alliance” — an alliance of several gender and gay rights advocacy groups — on the “conditions and the pressure that gay people are subjected to in Taiwan.”
The survey showed that 58 percent of respondents had been victimized — notably in the form of verbal abuse and social isolation.
A total of 29 percent said they had contemplated suicide, with 18 percent having attempted to take their own life.
The survey also showed that 23 percent of respondents did not receive any gay-friendly resources before the age of 18.
On the subject of social pressures, 79 percent of respondents cited uncertainty about family acceptance, and 68 percent pointed to the burden of society’s expectations that they should marry.
The survey collected 2,785 valid responses in just 10 days, the alliance said, showing the urgency and significance of the issue.
Chien Chih-chieh (簡至潔), a member of Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, said the high ratios indicated a lack of self-identity and resources for homosexual people in their adolescence, placing them under considerable pressure.
Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan secretary-general Wang Ping (王蘋) said the percentage of gay people who had attempted suicide might be higher, as many of them bore scars on their wrists.
“Taiwan’s lack of education on homosexuality has led to the aforementioned results. To build a multicultural and equal society, gay-friendly education and legislation are very important, as fair treatment is not a privilege, but a basic human right,” Wang said.
The Ministry of Education was scheduled to introduce gender-equality education — including the subject of homosexuality— into the curriculum for elementary and junior-high schools on Aug. 1 last year.
However, religious organizations fought its implementation by pressuring legislators and the ministry to drop the plan, the alliance said, accusing the ministry of violating the Gender Equality Education Act (性別平等教育法) and of administrative delinquency.
In response, Yang Yu-hui (楊玉惠), a ministry official, said that gender equality education has already been incorporated into the curriculum of the nation’s Nine-Year Educational Program.
As for teaching about homosexuality, which sparked the controversy last year, Yang said it has been made a reference point for teachers only.
Yang added that the plan was not halted because of the ministry’s negligence, but because of a resolution passed by the legislature asking it be temporarily postponed.
According to the alliance, of the 2,785 respondents in the survey, 35 percent identified themselves as lesbians, 39 percent as gays, 20 percent as bisexuals, 2 percent as transgender and 4 percent were uncertain.
Additional reporting by Hu Ching-hui and Hsieh Wen-hua
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at