'Happily ever after' elus Taiwan, a year after Asia's first gay marriag | Rters

Contents:

• TAIWAN GAY MARRIAGE: PARLIAMENT LEGALIS SAME-SEX UNNS
• WHY GAY-IENDLY TAIWAN IS A CREATIVE HAVEN FOR LGBTQ ART
• TAIWAN-MAU GAY UPLE MARRY AFTER LEGAL VICTORY
• 'HAPPILY EVER AFTER' ELUS TAIWAN, A YEAR AFTER ASIA'S FIRST GAY MARRIAG
• FORBIDN LOVE: TAIWAN'S GAY UPL SEEK FOREIGN MARRIAGE EQUALY
• GAY TAIWAN: ASIA’S BT STATN FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS
• BEG GAY TAIWAN

TAIWAN GAY MARRIAGE: PARLIAMENT LEGALIS SAME-SEX UNNS

The bate over same-sex marriage has been gog on sce 2003 when the executive branch of the ernment started to prepare legislatn to allow gay marriage. Meanwhile, the movement support of gay marriage was growg Taiwan wh publicy events like the biggt same-sex weddg party ever 2011. The panel of judg gave the ernment 2 years to legalize same-sex marriage, which would make the first untry Asia to legalise gay marriage.

The good news is, acrdg to a 2016 study, tolerance towards homosexualy Taiwan creased 132% between 1995 and 2012 and Taiwan’s reputatn as the most gay-iendly untry Asia is certaly more than jtified by this and s thrivg gay muny. However another study showed that Taiwane people were ls likely to be tolerant of gay members of their own fay wh 38.

This shows that there are still some graed prejudic and a certa amount of misunrstandgs about the gay muny – sadly somethg reflected the 2018 referendum rult. Although there are challeng for LGBT cizens, gay travellers to the untry n feel nfint that they’ll fd a warm wele, some great gay nights out and the biggt gay scene all of Asia. It’s been this way for years, to be hont, but only recently has bee an ternatnal LGBT travel statn and gay travellers should feel enuraged to vis and lend support.

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

Visors will notice a relatively high number of gay upl out and about, perhaps even gettg a ltle close a bar, but ’s worth highlightg here that general public displays of affectn are not big Taiwan. That’s why gay travellers to Taiwan should be aware of where they are to ensure they are not embarrassg people around – ’s rarely hostile, but people here will feel a b embarrassed by both heterosexual and homosexual displays of smoochg! There are many fascatg plac to disver Taiwan and gay travellers should feel posive about travellg all around.

Once travellers start headg to other ci, like Taan, they will fd much ls on offer the form of flamboyant gay scen; but the are still plac worth gog.

G’s Hotel is the first gay hotel Taipei offerg budget acmodatn exclively for men wh a foc on shared bathrooms and gettg zy wh other guts. We have to say, however, that we wouldn’t stay for the r and there are plenty of other fabulo gay-iendly acmodatn optns Taiwan.

TAIWAN-MAU GAY UPLE MARRY AFTER LEGAL VICTORY

The food Taiwan is jtifiably world-renowned, whether ’s high cuise or street food at night markets – this n be enjoyed by all visors, gay and straight alike! For more gay-specific activi, travellers n take their trip durg one of the Pri events the cy to show support for LGBT rights Taiwan (and have a hell of a good time! There’s also the famo Red Hoe area Taipei where there are multiple gay bars, clubs and f – visors should do their rearch to figure out which on they n give a miss!

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

All of the ci have at least one ‘reputable’ gay sna that travellers n try out to learn more about the gay scene Taiwan.

The LGBT scene particular is very excg and we totally believe supportg a untry that’s so far ahead of s neighbours terms of gay rights.

Gay travellers should expect to meet tons of new iends, disver some credible dish, see some great sights and enjoy some fabulo nights out. Censorship✔ No censorshipChangg Genr✖ Legal, but requir surgeryNon-bary genr regnn✖ Not legally regnizedEmployment Discrimatn✔ Sexual orientatn and genr intyHog Discrimatn✔ Sexual orientatn and genr intyMilary✖ Lbians, gays, bisexuals permted, transgenr people bannedDonatg Blood✖ Banned (5-year ferral)Conversn Therapy✔ Banned.

FORBIDN LOVE: TAIWAN'S GAY UPL SEEK FOREIGN MARRIAGE EQUALY

Public OpnIn Taiwan, public opn seems to reflect a lack of acceptance or unrstandg of the LGBTQ+ Surveys of Taiwane people would accept their child learng about LGBT-related topics school of Taiwane people accept seeg same-sex public displays of affectn of Taiwane people accept seeg heterosexual public displays of affectn of Taiwane people favor allowg same-sex upl to adopt children of Taiwane people say they have not been affected by the legalizatn of same-sex marriageHistoryHomosexual activy Taiwan?

Current statSce Jan 2002Lbians, gays, bisexuals permted, transgenr people banned Taiwan allows gay and lbian soldiers provid they mata ary disciple donatns by MSMs Taiwan? Current statSce May 2018Banned (5-year ferral) In March 2018, the Government gazetted, for a two-month public nsultatn, amendments to the Standards on Asssg Donor Suabily for Blood Donatn that clud allowg gay and bisexual men who have not had sex wh another man for five years to donate blood.

A spokperson for the Mistry of Health and Welfare said that the abstence perd would be further rced to one year the future, so as to brg the Taiwane standard le wh Wtern (fe ferral)Gay, lbian, bisexual, and other "high risk HIV" groups are banned om donatg blood Taiwan.

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

Lawmakers Taiwan have approved a bill legalizg same-sex marriage, a landmark cisn that mak the self-led island the first place Asia to pass gay marriage legislatn.

Although the island has a large gay muny and s annual gay pri para is the biggt Asia, the issue of marriage equaly has bterly divid Taiwane society.

In recent months nservative groups have mpaigned agast same-sex marriage reform, phg for a law that would see gay marriag refed as somethg closer to same-sex unns.

BEG GAY TAIWAN

Wu Tzu-an, a 33-year-old gay artist om Taipei, was among the crowds outsi the parliament celebratg Friday. In 2015, veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei – who has spent 30 years fightg for marriage equaly – filed a requt to the Constutnal Court askg for a lg on an article the island’s civil statg that marriage is between a man and a woman. Taiwan’s gay marriage opponents seized the opportuny to put forward a referendum askg voters whether they agreed wh same-sex marriage.

In maland Cha, where homosexualy is legal but prejudic and discrimatn agast LGBT people persist unr Communist Party le, an thor of same-sex erotic fictn was sent to jail for 10 years November. In April, the ler of the ty, oil-rich kgdom of Bnei announced he would troduce ath by stong for those nvicted of gay sex.

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.

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.

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.

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. “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?