Advocates from the Taiwan Women Association (TWA) joined the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday to call for closer monitoring and enhanced protection of women after reports of men who self-identify as women being permitted to enter into female changing rooms and other female only public spaces.
“Being a woman is not just about wearing female clothing” and “a male is not a woman just by dressing like a woman,” TWA chairwoman Lin Shu-fan (林書帆) told a news conference in Taipei.
Lin said Taiwan has made much progress toward accepting people of different sexual orientations with the legalization of same-sex marriage being an example.
Photo: Yang Kuo-wen, Taipei Times
“But some policies have gone too far, and now we have males who ‘gender self-identify’ as women and who still possess male genitalia, being permitted by government ministries to enter into female washrooms, changing rooms, and are even permitted to live in female student dormitories,” she said.
“We are fighting against these erroneous policies. In the past ‘transgender’ referred to someone who had undergone a medical procedure, medication and hormonal therapy, changing from a person that possessed male attributes to that of female characteristics,” she said.
“Taiwan is allowing ‘gender self-identification’ for men who have not gone through these procedures. This has caused fear in many women. It is a violation of their privacy and personal rights. They see clearly that males are permitted into places where women are undressing, or are naked in saunas and hotspring baths, where in the past these areas were reserved for women only,” Lin said.
A transgender person, who wished to remain anonymous, also spoke at the event:
“I have gone through the procedure of transitioning from a man into a woman, and I am quite aware of the issues. I agree with the stance of Lin and the TSU,” she said.
“Men who self-identify as female but have not undergone surgery and hormonal therapy are taking advantage of the situation, and are infringing on women’s rights, resulting in psychological anxiety and fear for many women,” she said
Former TSU legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安) castigated the Ministry of Education and the Sports Administration for blindly following foreign countries on the pretext of “gender inclusiveness.”
Schools have received notices that “males who self-identify as female can register to compete in women’s sporting events,” she said.
The news conference called on the government to stop these policies that “have harmed the rights of women and children.”
‘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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS