Gay students should be allowed to develop 'naturally'

The ministry's announcement is a welcome and positive move towards the development of a healthy, free and tolerant society. Simply installing the software by including gay topics in school syllabuses, however, is not enough. There are still many misunderstandings and unfair judgments on homosexuality in Taiwan.

So while the Ministry says its reforms seek to “root out discrimination” and that it believes “students should be able to grow up happily in an environment of tolerance and respect,” the concern is that there is still a lot of difficulties in implementing these ideals in our schools.

It is unfortunate, for example, that the ministry appeared in this case to have acted in a passive manner in promoting these ideals. While the government did not draw any links between the two events, the fact is that the announcement of the improved syllabus came only after there were protests against the earlier memo advising schools to ban gay groups and their activities. It begs the question, then, whether the government would have taken active action against discrimination of homosexuality in schools had the homosexual groups remained silent.

The memo had advised schools to “avoid high school student groups from leading students into homosexual activities, so that students can develop naturally.” The Ministry's secretary-general later apologized for using “inappropriate words” and the “careless” handling of the matter after the protest.

The comments were particularly regretful given that Ma Ying-jeou's government has been one of Taiwan's more progressive administrations. The government had made many statements saying it wants to create a liberal and progressive society that respects gender differences, and President Ma had set up a NT$1 million budget for Taiwan's homosexual groups in the first year of his administration, a rare move for not only Taiwan but also any government in the world.

As far as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transvestite (LGBT) rights are concerned, Taiwan is actually seen as one of the most progressive countries in Asia. Taiwan's gay pride event is Asia's biggest and attracted more than 25,000 participants last year.

Misunderstandings and prejudices against LGBT groups, however, are still widespread among Taiwan's society, particularly within our schools. There are many reports of gay students being bullied and mocked by peers and teachers. One particularly chilling example was the mysterious death of Yeh Yung-chih, a homosexual high school student, who had been bullied by schoolmates about his “feminine behaviors.” He was found dead in the school toilet in a pool of blood in 2000.

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