Why gay-iendly Taiwan is a creative haven for LGBTQ art | CNN

Contents:

• 'HAPPILY EVER AFTER' ELUS TAIWAN, A YEAR AFTER ASIA'S FIRST GAY MARRIAG
• WHY GAY-IENDLY TAIWAN IS A CREATIVE HAVEN FOR LGBTQ ART
• WELE TO GAY TAIPEI 2021

'HAPPILY EVER AFTER' ELUS TAIWAN, A YEAR AFTER ASIA'S FIRST GAY MARRIAG

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - When Taiwan beme the first place Asia to allow same-sex marriage last year, universy profsor Lois was among thoands of gay people who cheered and waved rabow flags on the streets of the pal Taipei. A year on, she and her Che partner still have no right to legally wed, like hundreds of such upl who face rtrictns over ternatnal same-sex Taiwan marked a year sce passg s historic law a regn where gay rights progrs is slow, LGBT+ rights groups have lled for a full regnn of same-sex marriage to protect upl and fai.

MISSING PIECE OF PUZZLESame-sex marriage beme legal Taiwan on May 24 last year, a week after s parliament passed a bill offerg siar protectns of marriage to gay people uld only marry foreigners om a untry where same-sex marriage is also legal, and adopt children blogilly related to at least one of ’s partner, who is om Cha where gay marriage is not regnised, had to give up her job 2017 and bee a stunt so she uld stay on the island and raise their three-year-old son. I want - my wife, my son - to be regnised as a fay, ” Lois told the Thomson Rters Foundatn by phone om seen as a bean of liberalism Asia, Taiwan beme the first place the regn to allow gay marriage, although the move faced stiff opposn and divid the self-led than 3, 500 gay upl have married sce last year, official figur show. “There are still a lot of measur that need to be adjted after the law was approved, ” she add, whout office did not reply to a requt seekg ment on lls to allow all ternatnal gay, SETBACKS IN ASIAElsewhere Asia, progrs towards gay marriage has been slow.

A urt the Philipp rejected a same-sex marriage petn last year and Hong Kong has upheld a ban on civil partnerships, although gay upl have ma small gas public hog and spoal visa rights. Japane gay upl meanwhile sued the ernment over the right to marriage last year. “We unrstand chang society take time, ” said Jennifer Lu, a reprentative for the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn said the law passed Taiwan was a breakthrough as shows gay marriage do not ntradicts “Asian valu”.

WHY GAY-IENDLY TAIWAN IS A CREATIVE HAVEN FOR LGBTQ ART

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WELE TO GAY TAIPEI 2021

More than 4, 000 gay upl have sce taken advantage of the landmark legislatn.

All this n help the gay muny, which foc on different issu, to thrive. Beyond the legal rights of exprsn enshred s nstutn, Taiwan ranked 34th the world (and 2nd Asia, after Thailand) a gay happs x based on the experienc of 115, 000 men om around the world. And 2017, jt months after Taiwan’s nstutnal urt paved the way for the marriage law by clarg same-sex marriage a legal right, the gay art scene was afford rare mastream attentn wh the exhibn “Spectrosynthis – Asian LGBTQ Issu and Art Now.

For Su’s generatn, however, the gay art scene has long been flourishg. One of his most recent projects saw Su film unrealized scen om “The Glamoro Boys of Tang, ” a homoerotic fantasy movie featurg i, killgs and an exorcism, that was released whout parts of the origal screenplay, as Su believ they were emed appropriate nservative 1980s Taiwan. It was this that saw the openg of LGBTQ-iendly venu like IT Park and the G G Bookstore, which has hoed a gallery space Taipei for more than 20 years, alongsi an explosn gay lerature, nightlife and amic disurse.

But while gay artists were ee to practice their art, nservative attus persisted. So-lled nversn therapy, a psdoscience that attempts to “treat” homosexualy, remaed prevalent ( was only formally banned 2018).

Organizers of a 2003 exhibn of works ma by gay artists durg nsensual art therapy even felt necsary to clarify the show’s not: “This exhibn is not to show LGBT people need to be cured. “It’s tratg that even your parents n’t see your value, or tell others that their son is gay.

At the other end of the spectm, homosexualy remas a punishable crime parts of Southeast Asia, cludg Malaysia, Bnei and some areas of Indonia.

In between, there are a number of plac that ostensibly allow gay art to be displayed, but where censorship remas a signifint barrier. Meanwhile Sgapore, where artists are permted to exhib LGBTQ-themed work spe the fact that gay sex is illegal (a law that is rarely enforced), censorship is also mon.

Wh Taiwan attemptg to tablish self as a mercial arts statn (the lnch of the Taipei Dangdai art fair 2019 signaled that the island may hope to challenge Hong Kong’s domatn of the Asian market), the island’s gay artists uld, turn, benef om the growg ternatnal profile. For the 41-year-old artist and photographer, this curatorial cisn reprents a wir problem facg the arts Taiwan: That gay male artists ntue to take a disproportnate chunk of the limelight.