Led by pop diva Chang Hui-mei (張惠妹), also known as A-mei (阿妹), 37 artists took part in a benefit concert at Taipei Arena at the beginning of this month to show support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
The concert, Love is King. It Makes Us All Equal (愛最大), was organized to raise funds for the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (伴侶盟), which advocates legalizing same-sex marriage. The 10,000 tickets sold out within a minute, and millions of New Taiwan Dollars were donated to the alliance via ticket sales.
The strong show of support sent a clear message to the government. However, in the face of Asian’s biggest pro-LGBT concert in terms of the number of artists contributing to it, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her administration has yet to take any concrete actions.
Photo courtesy of Outstanding Production
LGBT VARIETY SHOW
Meanwhile, LGBTalk Show (TA們說) — Taiwan’s first gay-themed variety show — received positive feedback after it premiered on YouTube on Thursday last week (www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzjwSRR5RuU).
The weekly variety show is co-hosted by gay rights activist Kristy Chu (曲家瑞) and entertainers Hero Tai (戴祖雄), William Liao (廖威廉) and Simon Xue (薛仕凌), who goes by the stage name MC40. The first episode received tens of thousands of views on the day of its release, and a new episode will air at 10pm every Thursday.
Photo: CNA
Despite the show’s popularity, TV stations have refused to carry it because they are concerned that some of the issues it may tackle could be sensitive or controversial, reported online news outlet ETtoday (東森新聞雲).
As these cases — and countless others — show, the central government and some media continue to euphemize the issue by appealing to a largely fictitious demographic that might be offended by the protection of LGBT people’s human rights.
However, quite a few cities and counties throughout the nation are taking the initiative to protect the LGBT community. The Taichung City Government’s ban on the barbaric practice of conversion therapy serves as a good example. The city’s Health Bureau issued a document on May 13 stating that medical institutions are prohibited from using the controversial treatment.
CONVERSION THERAPY BANNED
According to Shader Liu (劉信詮), a member of Taichung’s Gender Equality Committee, the policy was made because homosexuality is not an illness and therefore the practice is not necessary. Liu added that the pseudo-scientific therapy could lead to domestic violence, psychological trauma and even suicide.
“Conversion therapy used to be an ethical issue. Now it’s a legal issue,” Liu said, adding that any group — medical, civil or religious — practicing the treatment in Taichung is violating the Physicians Act (醫師法) and the Psychologists Act (心理師法).
Taichung’s committee is making a request for the Ministry of Health and Welfare to make the new rule applicable nationwide, so as to eliminate the treatment. From the pro-LGBT concert and online variety show to Taichung’s sensible policy, the call for the equal rights of LGBT people is loud and clear. What is the central government waiting for?
July 1 to July 7 Huang Ching-an (黃慶安) couldn’t help but notice Imelita Masongsong during a company party in the Philippines. With paler skin and more East Asian features, she did not look like the other locals. On top of his job duties, Huang had another mission in the country, given by his mother: to track down his cousin, who was deployed to the Philippines by the Japanese during World War II and never returned. Although it had been more than three decades, the family was still hoping to find him. Perhaps Imelita could provide some clues. Huang never found the cousin;
On Friday last week, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency very excitedly proclaimed “a set of judicial guidelines targeting die-hard ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists” had been issued “as a refinement and supplement to the country’s ‘Anti-Secession’ law” from 2005, with sentencing guidelines that included the death penalty as an option. At the same time, 77 People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft were flown into Taiwan’s air defense identification zones (ADIZ) in just 48 hours, a high enough number to indicate the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was peeved about something and wanted it known. What was puzzling is that the CCP always
Once again, we are listening to the government talk about bringing in foreign workers to help local manufacturing. Speaking at an investment summit in Washington DC, the Minister of Economic Affairs, J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), said that the nation must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high end manufacturing by 2040 to offset the falling population. That’s roughly 15 years from now. Using the lower number, Taiwan would have to import over 25,000 foreigners a year for these positions to reach that goal. The government has no idea what this sounds like to outsiders and to foreigners already living here.
David is a psychologist and has been taking part in drug-fueled gay orgies for the past 15 years. “The sex is crazy — utterly unbridled — which of course is partly down to the drugs but also because you can act out all your fantasies,” said the 54-year-old, who has been in a relationship for two years. Chemsex — taking drugs to enhance sexual pleasure and performance — “has opened a whole world of possibilities to me,” David added. “Sex doesn’t have to be limited to two people... There is a whole fantasy and transgressive side to it that turns me on. It