A prominent LGBTQ activist shares his personal mission for equality in a country still working towards it.
As a 36-year-old gay man, I’ve witnessed great changes in Taiwanese society’s attitudes towards LGBTQ people. I realized I liked boys around age eleven, but back then homosexuality was still a taboo topic, and I didn’t dare tell anyone. I was quite popular in school, but I often felt that my classmates didn’t know the real me. I was very lonely and even considered myself a freak.
Only in 2000, when I started participating in a gay student club at my university and met other people like me, was I truly able to accept the fact that I was gay and start the process of coming out. At the time, the LGBTQ movement in Taiwan was thriving, and I had the opportunity to take gender-related courses in college, volunteer for LGBTQ organizations, and take part in LGBTQ events like pride parades.
But, while my gay life became richer and more colorful, life at home was still a completely different world. I tried to come out to my mother, but she believed that I’d read too much and asked me not to think about such things. For a long time after that, we didn’t mention the subject again. I felt like I was living a double life, active in the outside world but unable to say anything once I was home.
In 2002, I started to volunteer for the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association (台灣同志諮詢熱線協會) and became a full-time staff member in 2011. Since then, my personal mission has been to contribute to the LGBTQ community and make Taiwanese society a friendlier place, so younger generations won’t experience the same difficulties that I did.
In 2004, we passed the Gender Equity Education Act (性別平等教育法), allowing us to enter school campuses and share with younger students our life stories and the concepts of gender diversity. We are also engaged in social education across the country. With these efforts and thanks to the many LGBTQ-friendly teachers in schools, Taiwanese society has indeed become more welcoming to us, especially among younger generations, which I am very proud to have been a part of.
I am also responsible for HIV/AIDS education and advocacy. I’m working on issues of HIV stigma, which are often even more severe than the stigma attached to homosexuality.
These days, marriage equality has taken center stage in the country. In 2016, because President Tsai Ing-Wen (蔡英文) stated during her campaign that she supports marriage equality, and due to the suicide of a prominent gay professor in the country, marriage equality became an issue that everyone in the country was paying attention to. Legislators from different parties proposed three amendments to Civil Code. My organization, along with other groups, formed a coalition to work with friendly legislators. The marriage equality bill passed its first hurdle, a review in committee, on December 26, 2016, and it is currently waiting for a second reading. In the meantime, the Supreme Court is expected to deliver a ruling regarding whether the current Civil Code is unconstitutional.
But this journey has not been entirely smooth. Our opponents, many of whom say it is their Christian faith that drives them, have mobilized their communities and spread rumors and fear. It has also pushed them to attack other areas such as gender equity education, HIV/AIDS, and transgender rights.
To raise public awareness and support, we organized three large-scale events in one month at the end of 2016, the biggest of which attracted more than 250,000 individuals to rally and show their support for marriage equality in front of the Presidential Office Building. We can even thank Grindr for getting involved and encouraging all Taiwanese users of the app to participate. This was the largest demonstration for LGBTQ issues Taiwanese society has ever witnessed and, of course, it also attracted many of our heterosexual allies to participate.
The marriage equality movement has also empowered me personally. I finally decided to come out to my family. I shared relevant information in our family social media group and invited them to the rally at the end of last year. Although my parents didn’t join me that day, they told me to stay safe, and, to me, that reminder was worth more than anything.
The marriage equality movement has not just been about our ability to get married. It has also been the greatest moment of social education about LGBTQ-related issues in our history, as well as an important step for the democratization of Taiwan. I truly hope that the marriage equality bill will come to pass this year. Either way, my colleagues, volunteers, and I will continue to fight for LGBTQ human rights.
Sean Sih-Cheng Du (杜思誠) is Director of Policy Advocacy at Taiwan Tonzhi Hotline Association (台灣同志諮詢熱線協會). He leads the organization's HIV/AIDS education and international collaboration programs, as well as serving as a member of the marriage equality advocacy team.
**中文翻譯**
身為一個1981年出生,今年36歲的男同志,我在成長過程見證了台灣社會對於同志態度的巨大變化。國小五六年級我就知道自己喜歡的是男生,但當時同性戀還是很禁忌的話題,我不敢跟任何人說。我的人緣很好,但我常常覺得大家不認識真正的我。我覺得很孤單,甚至懷疑自己是變態。
我一直到2000年在大學參加同志學生社團,認識許多跟自己一樣的人,才真正接受自己是同性戀,並開始向身旁朋友一個接一個出櫃。當時台灣的同志運動蓬勃發展,我也參加同志社團、修性別相關課程、到同志組織當志工、參加同志遊行等活動。我的同志生活愈來愈精彩豐富,但回家後卻是另一個世界。我曾經嘗試跟母親出櫃,但她認為是我唸太多書,要我不要再往同志這方面想。很長一段時間,我們不再談這件事,我覺得自己過得像雙面人,在外面很活躍,但回到家卻什麼都不能說。
我從2002開始在同志諮詢熱線當義工,並在2011年成為正式工作人員至今。我希望能為同志社群盡一份心力,讓台灣社會更友善,讓年輕世代不再像我以前那樣過得那麼辛苦。台灣在2004年通過性別平等教育法,讓我們有機會進到學校裡分享自己的生命故事與多元性別的概念。我們也做社會教育。十幾年下來,在性別團體與學校性別友善老師的努力下,台灣社會的確變得對同志比較友善,特別是年輕世代。我另外也負責愛滋教育與倡議工作,處理比同志污名更嚴重的愛滋污名。
婚姻平權也是台灣這幾年蓬勃發展的運動,特別是在2016年,我們有了新的執政黨與國會,蔡英文總統也在選舉時說她支持婚姻平權,讓我們覺得比起以前更有機會。2016年十月,因為法籍教授的自殺,讓婚姻平權成為全民關注的議題。三個主要政黨都提出了法案,熱線也和其他性別團體組成婚權大平台,並與友善立委合作。法案在12/26通過國會委員會,並等待二讀。在此同時,大法官也將對目前民法是否違憲作出解釋。
這段時間並非一帆風順。反對方(主要為教會背景)大力動員並散播謠言,企圖以恐懼策略讓立委及民眾對婚權感到遲疑,反對方也攻擊性別平等教育、愛滋、跨性別等議題。
為了提升公共意識與社會支持,我們在2016年底一個月內辦了三場大型集會,其中一場甚至有超過25萬人在總統府前表達對於婚姻平權的支持(也謝謝Grindr在活動時的支持~),這是台灣至今以來對於同志議題的最大集會,而且參與者有許多是異性戀。婚權運動也讓我獲得更多力量,我決定向更多家人出櫃,把相關訊息貼到我們家的Line社團,並邀請他們來集會。我爸媽雖然沒有參加活動,但他們傳了訊息要我注意安全。對我來說,這句話勝過一切。
婚權運動不只是婚權,更是有史以來針對同志議題的最大型社會教育,也是台灣民主深化的重要一步。我衷心期盼婚姻平權能通過,讓更多同志能融入在社會之中,讓同志伴侶的未來能有保障。我和夥伴、義工們也會繼續為台灣的同志運動奮鬥。
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