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

Contents:

• WHY GAY-IENDLY TAIWAN IS A CREATIVE HAVEN FOR LGBTQ ART
• GAY RIGHTS, TAIWAN PENNCE AND ANTI-NUCLEAR ISSU THE PRINTIAL ELECTN
• A CLOSER LOOK AT GAY RIGHTS CHA
• GAY RIGHTS CHA GET FILLIP OM TAIWAN SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LG
• ON TAKG GAY RIGHTS FROM TAIPEI TO BEIJG: DON’T CALL IT A ‘MOVEMENT’
• GAY RIGHTS ON THE MARCH TAIWAN
• 'HAPPILY EVER AFTER' ELUS TAIWAN, A YEAR AFTER ASIA'S FIRST GAY MARRIAG
• 10 REASONS WHY TAIWAN IS THE BEAN OF GAY RIGHTS ASIA
• GAY TAIWAN: ASIA’S BT STATN FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS

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

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. 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.

GAY RIGHTS, TAIWAN PENNCE AND ANTI-NUCLEAR ISSU THE PRINTIAL ELECTN

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. 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.

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.

A CLOSER LOOK AT GAY RIGHTS CHA

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. “The majory of curators and llectors are male, and, om my perspective, they are more terted gay male art, ” she said, addg: “We all notice that there are a lot of gay artists ( Taiwan), but if a curator asks, ‘Who’s a lbian artist?

Even the ncept of LGBTQ art self may be a generalizatn said Tzeng, who don’t regnize the existence of a gay art “scene, ” per se, Taipei.

” But whether that means anizatns like his might, an ial future, no longer need to exist, is a moot pot given the wispread challeng facg Asia’s gay artists, he said. While Taiwan 2019 beme the first jurisdictn the regn to legalize same-sex marriage, the legal change stopped short of grantg full rights of adoptn to homosexual upl.

GAY RIGHTS CHA GET FILLIP OM TAIWAN SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LG

As of 2022, six untri' legal s specifilly prcribe the ath penalty for the "crime" of homosexualy and another five untri allow for the possibily of the ath penalty.

LGBT and LGBTQ+ have several addnal variatns, cludg LGBTQ, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, and 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two-spir, lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, qutng, tersex, and asexual, wh the + reprentg pansexual, agenr, genr queer, bigenr, genr variant, and pangenr). Two of the most notable advancements LGBTQI+ rights the US recent s are the legalizatn of gay marriage and the legalizatn of adoptn of children by same-sex upl.

Gay marriage legalizatn expand om one state 2004 to all fifty stat 2015 through feral urt lgs, state urt lgs, state legislatn, and direct popular vot.

ON TAKG GAY RIGHTS FROM TAIPEI TO BEIJG: DON’T CALL IT A ‘MOVEMENT’

Acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn's annual report State-Sponsored Homophobia, same-sex nduct was crimalized 67 of the Uned Natns' 193 member stat 2020 and was facto illegal two more.

In other untri, homosexualy is technilly legal, but promotn of "nontradnal sexual relatns", whether by anizatns or dividuals, is illegal. Moreover, another five untri have laws which are ls specific the outlawg and sentencg of homosexualy, but which leave the ath penalty available. 2022's iendlit natn for LGBTQ+ travelers is Canada, the first untry outsi of Europe (and the fourth untry the world) to legalize gay marriage, which did on July 20, 2005.

GAY RIGHTS ON THE MARCH TAIWAN

Another of the world's most gay-iendly untri, Swen has legalized both marriage and adoptn for same-sex upl, stalled anti-discrimatn protectns for both genr inty and sexual orientatn, end nstutnal protectns agast discrimatn, and crimalized vlence agast LGBTQ+ people. Individuals arrted for homosexual nduct are often subjected to addnal mistreatment, om torture and forced anal exams by shady law enforcement officials to oversized sentenc or extend pre-trial rceratn that n last for years. The move at a moment of change for LGBTQ rights Asia: even as natns like India–whose Supreme Court crimalized homosexualy 2018–have expand rights, others cludg Malaysia, Indonia and Bnei have cracked down.

) The social scuffle me amid a wave of censorship of LGBTQ subjects on social media Cha, where homosexualy is legal but same-sex marriag are not. When Che gay rights activist Peng Yanhui heard that Taiwan had approved a bill legalizg same-sex marriage on May 17 as he board a flight, he burst to tears of joy.

In the unlikely scenar that the Che ernment did embrace homosexualy, wouldn’t be unprecented, acrdg to Steve Tsang, director of the Cha Instute at the Universy of London. Thoands cludg members of the LGBT muny took part the first gay pri para held on October 26, 2019 after Taiwan legalised same-sex marriag, the culmatn of a three- fight for equaly.

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

Appreciatg that Tsai Ing-wen risked her polil reer to support same-sex marriage, many young people and gay rights groups form the firmt support for Tsai Ing-wen’s re-electn. No doubt aims to further label the gay muny and rerce outsirs’ imprsn that Taiwan’s gay muny ndon the illegal street vlence of Hong Kong’s ‘fighter group’ of monstrators.

When ‘supportg Hong Kong’ and gay rights groups are lked by a simple slogan, no doubt aims to further label the gay muny and rerce outsirs’ imprsn that Taiwan’s gay muny ndon the illegal street vlence of Hong Kong’s ‘fighter group’ of monstrators.

10 REASONS WHY TAIWAN IS THE BEAN OF GAY RIGHTS ASIA

(REUTERS/Eason Lam)In the same way, when the gay muny gratefully “vot iendly” next year’s electn, supportg Tsai Ing-wen and the pan-Green Coaln Legislative Commtee while choosg not to review or even to ignore the erng and moral ficienci of the DPP the past three years — cludg the much-cricised culture of polil patronage and the ntroversial amendments to the Referendum Act that is said to prive people of the right to exercise direct mocracy (by uplg referendums om natnal electns and stipulatg that they are to be held biannually, startg 2021) — progrsive valu will then lose their ratnal basis and their pacy to enurage progrs through learng prompted by reflectn. It is only when different progrsive valu are no longer artificially lked together by a specific electn, when progrsive valu are based on ratnal thkg, and when gay rights groups are no longer held hostage by the pury of iology and forced to support specific polil parti or policians, that progrsive valu may be tly manifted. And I’m really sorry if I’m havg movie spoilers my answers would happen if “Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ” two of the vampir met high school and had a gay romance?

Undoubtedly, agast the backdrop of globalizatn, maland Cha is fluenced by the ternatnal trend of the gay rights movement as well, though the spe, speed, and gree of such fluence uld be argued.

After 2001, then, homosexualy was no longer fed as a crime or an illns the official ntext, and sce then, Cha’s LGBT muny has been able to fd a fortable (paratively speakg), semi-overt livg space: Gay parks and gay bars are boomg Che big ci; the topic of homosexuals is no longer a taboo for Che media. More and more reports centerg around the Che homosexuals’ prediment and nmng those homosexuals who marry straight a wife or hband to ver their sexual orientatns have been published.

GAY TAIWAN: ASIA’S BT STATN FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS

Compared to their unterparts the Wt, Cha’s homosexuals don’t need to face prsure om extreme relig groups, and the Che ernment tends to acquice to their current stat as long as they don’t keep phg for more, Cha’s LGBT muny is still phg. In 2015, a Che llege stunt sued Cha’s Edutn Mistry over amic textbooks that scribe homosexualy as a “disorr, ” the first se of s kd the untry.

Supreme Court legalized gay marriage natnwi, a Che gay uple mand the same right om the Che ernment: they sued the Che registry for refg their applitn to marry December 2015. Although both the llege stunt and the gay uple lost their s the end, their enavors, as well as all the reports focg on them, spired more people fightg for gay articl argue that the biggt source of prsure on Cha’s LGBT muny om their fai. A mother said: “If parents of straight people n be here, parents of gay people n also be here… I’m here to fd a boyiend for my son.

Regardls, the natnal discsn of gay rights and the trend of public opn on LGBT are movg toward a more ratnal and receptive directn, pecially after Taiwan’s same-sex marriage lg. BEIJING (Rters) - Taiwan’s cisn givg same-sex upl the right to marry has proved a shot the arm for the gay rights movement Asia, but is likely to be many years before Cha approv siar measur, amid ep-rooted opposn some 2001, Cha listed homosexualy as a mental disorr, but is not illegal to be gay. Wednday’s cisn, the first such lg Asia, cements Taiwan’s posn as a bean of liberalism the regn, and uld prompt legal actn by activists Thailand, home to one of Southeast Asia’s most vibrant lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muni.

“The lg prov that same-sex marriage is acceptable Che culture, and is likely for the Che maland to legalize gay marriage wh a , ” Li Yhe, a proment sexologist at the Che Amy of Social Scienc who has backed proposals to legalize gay marriage, told the the far more wily read Che versn of the paper was silent on how the cisn might affect Cha. It don’t hurt anybody else, ” Li Tgtg, a genr equaly and gay rights activist, told ’s cisn would help promote the same-sex marriage issue Cha, said Li, who was taed 2015 for tryg to fight sexual harassment and go by the psdonym Li Maizi.

”As if unrsrg that view, a Che amic nounced the news on the se Confucian Web, urgg parents Taiwan to move to Cha to safeguard children om tchg Xiaogang, who works on gay rights and genr issu at the Beijg Genr Health Edutn Instute, said he felt reactn Cha had been generally posive. CHANGING ATTITUDESChe lerature and history are rich scriptn of relatively liberal attus to homosexualy imperial tim, but the Communist revolutn of 1949 hered more pdish attus towards sex.

Begng the late 1970s, however, Cha eased up on such strictur as embarked upon landmark enomic, though there are a handful of openly gay celebri, no Che policians will acknowledge beg gay public, unlike Wtern to gge the extent of support for gay rights Cha is difficult as no proper polls are published, said Sun Wenl, whose landmark se last year seekg permissn to marry his boyiend was rejected by a Che suggtns by a handful of reprentativ Cha’s largely bber stamp parliament for gay marriage to be legalized have now fallen by the waysi, said Sun.

”Sun will speak next month on the subject at the Shanghai Pri ftival, which began 2009 and bills self as the longt-existg event of s kd Taiwan lg’s fluence extends across Asia, Thailand, activists said would provoke redoubled effort to get the ary-led untry to legalize gay marriage. “I believe long-term gay upl will soon make a siar petn to the admistrative urt to amend the law, ” said Danai Djongrak, director of the Rabow Sky Associatn of Thailand.

18, 2017Taiwan moved one step closer last month to beg the first place Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, when a legislative mtee passed draft chang to the island’s civil proposed amendments have been sent to party uc for negotiatn and possibly further revisn before a fal versn is approved outright or go to a vote by the Legislative Yuan, a procs that is expected to take, the velopment was appld by gay rights advot, not jt Taiwan but maland Cha as them was Lai Jeng-jer, a leadg figure the gay rights movement Taiwan who now liv Beijg.