Yesterday (30th), during the “2023 LGBTQI+ Love without Borders International Human Rights Salon,” Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chen Chu addressed the legal protection for same-sex marriage equality has been adopted in Taiwan since 2019. Despite the significant importance of legal protection, however, the prejudice and discrimination hidden in society cannot be eliminated by the law right away; persistence and continuous efforts of all people are thus required.
This international human rights salon was co-organized by the NHRC and the French Office in Taipei. Deputy Mayor of Paris Jean-Luc Romero-Michel, who was in charge of matters in relation to human rights, inclusion and anti-discrimination, was invited to share experiences, exchange views, and explore strategies promoting LGBTQI+ human rights with Taiwan’s human rights groups that have long been concerned about gender diversity.
According to Chairperson Chen, she paid a visit to Deputy Mayor Michel during her trip to France in December last year, learning a lot from the conversation with human rights groups, experts, and scholars on gender equality issues at that time. In return, she invited him to Taiwan’s Pride Parade.
Chen noted that in 2019, Taiwan became the 27th country in the world and first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Same sex marriage has now been made legal in 34 countries world-wide, but Taiwan remains the only Asian country to have done so. In this respect, Taiwan leads other Asian countries including Japan, South Korea and Thailand, thus demonstrating the important role Taiwan plays for human rights in Asia.
Chen emphasized that love is one of the human rights, and human rights are a lifetime pursuit. She added, “I sincerely hope that no more tragedies will happen because of prejudice and discrimination on the grounds of gender identity or expression.” The NHRC needs to work in tandem with all sectors.
Director Franck Paris of the French Office in Taipei first commended Chairperson Chen and Deputy Mayor Romero-Michel for their efforts and achievements regarding human rights. Since the Pride parade, which took place last Saturday, he has been referring to the parade as the glory of Taiwan. As highlighted by Director Franck Paris, France and Taiwan share the same human rights values, and France is more than willing to work with the government and civil society of Taiwan to strive for the goal of fairness and justice.
Deputy Mayor Jean-Luc Romero-Michel said he was “amazed” by Taiwan’s Pride Parade. He stated that there were similar parades held in Paris as well, but the LGBTQI+ people in Taiwan seemed to enjoy the support of more young or heterosexual people, which reflected the diversity and inclusion in Taiwan. He considered Taiwan to be an important example in Asia, saying that Japan and South Korea have a lot to learn from Taiwan.
Deputy Mayor Romero-Michel spoke on the topic of “Promotion of LGBTQI+ Human Rights Initiatives and Policies,” and shared the policies and measures taken in Paris. Examples included the establishment of the Paris Prize for LGBT Rights, the setup of an observation station against homophobia, the placement of halfway houses, the enhancement of medical services for AIDS patients, and the active awareness-raising campaigns for the purpose of eliminating discrimination against LGBTQI+, etc.
The human rights salon was hosted by Chi Hui-jung, a commissioner of the NHRC who has long been committed to gender issues. Commissioners Tien Chiu-chin and Yeh Ta-hua also participated in the event. Joyce Teng, Executive Director of Taiwan Equality Campaign, first delivered a speech on “Discrimination, Violence and Gender Equality Education: From a Survey into the Life of LGBTI People.” The following speaker was Victoria Hsu, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights and convener of the legal team. With “Legal Gender Change and Transgender Rights” as the topic, Hsu introduced Taiwan’s history of gender equality, and called for excluding gender reassignment from the required criteria for changing legal gender.
Ivory Lin, Secretary-General of the Persons with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan, then talked about the topic of “Rights of People with HIV/AIDS,” pointing out Taiwanese society’s unfriendliness to HIV/AIDS patients in their process of seeking medical care and buying medicine, and the necessity to eliminate public misunderstanding and fear of HIV/AIDS. As the last speaker, Du Sih-cheng, Secretary-General of the Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBTQ+) Hotline Association, spoke on the topic of “Long-Term Care for LGBTQI+ People.” He suggested that the government improve caregivers’ training on gender equality and offer LGBTQI+ friendly long-term care services.