Despite the stormy weather, on Tuesday night dozens of gay-rights advocates — many of them Christian — gathered outside the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan in Taipei to protest the church’s decision to oppose same-sex marriage.
Amid pouring rain, lightning and thunder, about 50 people stood outside the church, praying and holding candles and banners that read: “Where is justice? Faith is dead” and “The church’s moral courage that lasted 150 years is gone,” to pressure the church to overturn its decision to oppose same-sex marriage.
A young Christian man marched to the church’s headquarters carrying a wooden cross, with the slogan “Jesus shoulders the stigma from the church and society for you.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The nighttime rally was triggered by a letter issued by the church’s general assembly, which announced that the church would officially oppose same-sex marriage.
While many Christian churches have voiced their opposition to same-sex marriage, the pastoral letter from the Presbyterian church is considered unacceptable by many of its members, as well as gay rights activists, since the church has long been a symbol of human rights in Taiwan and many of its pastors have openly supported same-sex marriage and are active in the campaign to legalize homosexual marriage.
Clergy within the church have split views on the issue, with most pastors affiliated with the general assembly and churches in the north supporting same-sex marriage, while pastors in the south oppose it.
The letter came as a result of a motion made jointly by pastors representing two Presbyterian churches in Greater Kaohsiung and supported by several other churches in the south.
The motion led to heated debate among church members, but was eventually adopted and confirmed by the general assembly on Tuesday afternoon.
In related news, gay rights activists yesterday urged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井) and Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) — co-chairs of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statues Committee — to quickly schedule meetings to review amendments to the Civil Code that are designed to legalize same-sex marriage.
“In 1996, when I was married to my [same-sex] partner Gray Harriman, [Greater] Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu [陳菊] — who was the director of the Taipei City Department of Social Affairs at the time — gave us a wedding present with the words ‘love is a fundamental human right,’” writer and gay rights activist Hsu Yu-sheng (許佑生) told a news conference at the legislature.
“I was 35 years old at the time, now I’m 53, and am still fighting for equality in marriage,” Hsu said.
“Many countries have legalized same-sex marriage, we’re falling too far behind,” he said.
Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights executive director Victoria Hsu (許秀雯) said that gay rights advocacy groups delivered their own versions of amendments to allow same-sex marriage three years ago, and the proposal passed the initial phase seven months ago, “but the committee chairs have never scheduled a review of the proposed amendment, ignoring the 150,000 people who signed a petition in support of same-sex marriage.”
Following the press conference, the group delivered more than 2,000 cards signed by supporters of gay marriage to Liao’s office, urging Liao and Lu to quickly schedule reviews of the amendment.
In response, Liao’s office said by telephone that it has not been trying to block the proposal, but instead Liao hopes to hear more public opinion on the highly controversial amendment before scheduling a review.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
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
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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with