Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and New Power Party (NPP) lawmakers along with a coalition of LGBT rights groups yesterday urged people to vote “no” to three referendums on homosexuality that are expected to be held on Nov. 24 alongside the nine-in-one elections.
The Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance on Tuesday submitted three referendum proposals to the Central Election Commission after having collected more than 600,000 signatures for each.
The proposals ask: “Do you agree that marriage should be strictly defined as between a man and a woman in the Civil Code?”; “Do you agree that the right of same-sex couples to live together should be protected through ways that do not require amending the Civil Code?”; and “Do you agree that provisions in the Enforcement Rules for Gender Equity Education Act (性別平等教育法施行細則) concerning homosexuality education should not be implemented at the elementary and junior-high-school levels?”
Photo: Su Fang-he, Taipei Times
While the alliance said that the proposals are meant to safeguard family values, LGBT rights advocates yesterday called them “anti-LGBT campaigns launched under the disguise of love for families” and initiated a counter-campaign.
The goal is to have at least 7 million people vote against them by urging each supporter to convince seven people to vote “no,” Marriage Equality Platform convener Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔) told a news conference in Taipei.
The platform, a coalition of LGBT rights groups, is on Sept. 10 to launch a Web site with information about the referendums, and send text and e-mail reminders to its members on election day, Lu added.
“The alliance’s referendum proposals are not only against education on gender equality and homosexuality, but could set a bad precedent regarding the constitutionally protected right to marriage equality,” DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said.
If homosexuality cannot be taught in schools, bullying based on gender and sexuality would become worse, she said, adding that everyone has a right to love and form their own family.
Same-sex couples should have the right to choose whether to get married, just as heterosexual couples do, NPP Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said.
“The referendum proposals worry me, because they are based on hatred and contempt for people who are different. They do not want others to enjoy the same happiness as they do. It is a terrible and a dangerous way of looking at the world,” Lim said, urging people to vote against them.
As of yesterday morning, 56 groups and more than 50 city and county councilors had joined the platform’s counter-campaign, Lu said.
For a referendum to pass, at least a quarter of the nation’s eligible voters must cast an affirmative vote, with the “yes” votes outnumbering the “no” votes.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS