Homosexuality is a natural phenomenon that cannot be suppressed away nor spread beyond its natural bounds. Gay rights are a part of human rights.
A good ex of mine who now works and lives in Taiwan sent me this article. Now that's a mayor with BALLS. Ma Ying-jeou, I hear, is favored to be the next president of Taiwan.
It is very interesting to see how exposure and education at the right place and the right time can help a person reflect and see beyond his own conviction. When Ma saw how gay communities are outside Taiwan, he began to appreciate what we are as a global community. More importantly, reading his statement, I have a feeling he now understands what we ARE NOT. Ultimately, he felt compassion for how much we struggle just to be.
September 18, 2006 - 8:30 pm ET
(Taipei) The rainbow flag has been raised in a ceremony at Taipei City Hall - the first time any branch of government in Taiwan has officially recognized the LGBT community.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou helped hoist the flag in a plaza in front of city hall while other political leaders and a number of gays looked on, waving rainbow colored pompoms.
"Tolerance is a necessary virtue for any world-class city," said Ma in a short speech. "Homosexuality is a natural phenomenon that cannot be suppressed away nor spread beyond its natural bounds. Gay rights are a part of human rights. We want Taipei to be a multifaceted city filled with love, peace and tolerance."
Ma, who is not gay, said that the search for LGBT civil rights in the Taiwanese capital brought him and the city closer to other world capitals. "Two years ago, I went to the Love Parade in Berlin. The mayor there, Klaus Wowereit is gay. He wasn't going to see me, but I got to talk to him for 10 minutes at the parade. Also, this year in San Francisco, I met mayor Gavin Newsom. We talked about gay issues and municipal Wi-Fi."
Newsom sent a congratulatory statement that was read at the flag raising marking the official start of pride celebrations in Taipei. LGBT groups have been holding the celebration for the past seven years, and each year until now the city has rebuffed efforts to hoist the flag at city hall. This year LGBT leaders were expecting another letdown, but Ma surprised them by agreeing to the flag raising and funding. When the festival turned up in the civil affairs budget some city councilors and conservative groups were outraged.
The weeklong festival will include human rights forums and cultural events. Wang Ping of the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association, one of the organizers of the festival, said there is still much to be done in attaining full rights for gays pointing to the issue of recognizing same-sex relationships.
To bring that point home to the government, the gay pride parade that will wrap up the festival will feature a collective mock gay wedding ceremony. Gay leaders say that if the government won't permit same-sex marriage it could at least create a civil registry such as those in a number of American states and in most European countries.
In 2004, a study commissioned by the Taiwan Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Association found that 36 percent of Taiwan's gays have been harassed or discriminated against because of their sexuality. The survey showed that the majority of harassment cases occurred on university campuses, but almost as many cases were perpetrated by family members. A quarter of the cases occurred in the workplace. In July, a 22 year old Taiwanese university student announced he had disowned his parents and is suing a psychiatric hospital after being put through what he calls a forced bid to turn him heterosexual.
Cynics, I mean, critics argue that this was simply a political tactic, perhaps even a socio-economic move (boost tourism, etc) by the mayor. The dude made history and scored a big one for our team. Just let it go.
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