Ep 58 | Gender Studies Professor on the LGBTQ Movement in Taiwan – Wen Liu Talking Taiwan

Sep 1, 2017

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A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

When I heard the historic news of May 24th, that Taiwan’s Constitutional Court had ruled that marriage is not strictly defined as being between a man and a woman, it was exciting to know that Taiwan was poised to be the first country in Asia to legalize gay marriage. Even though I’ve been involved with the Taiwan float in the New York Gay Pride Parade twice before this year’s event, I realize that I still have a lot more to learn about the LGBTQ movement and community in New York and Taiwan.

In fact, just last year I attended an orientation session for floats participating in the New York Gay Pride Parade. There I learned that the official name of the event is actually the New York Pride March. Why a march and not a parade? The organizers of New York Pride explained that the term march is a reminder of the origins of the first Gay Pride March in New York, which rose out of the riots that erupted in reaction to the unjust police raids of the Stonewall bar.

As for Taiwan’s Gay Pride Parade, it’s the largest one in Asia. But beyond that, and up until the May 24th Constitutional Court ruling, what’s happened in the gay rights movement in Taiwan?

I thought this would be the perfect time to cover this topic on the Talking Taiwan podcast.I wanted to interview someone about the gay rights movement in Taiwan. That led me to Wen Liu, gender studies professor at SUNY Albany and my interview with her.

I am so pleased to have Wen on as a guest to talk about the LGBTQ movement and the recent ruling in Taiwan on same-sex marriage. What listeners don’t know is that Wen did the interview with me from Taiwan, even though she is usually based in New York. I really appreciate her taking the time out of her schedule to do this interview with me.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode

The May 24th ruling by the Constitutional Court in Taiwan that same-sex marriage could be legalized
Mr. Chi Chia-wei who’s lawsuit led to the May 24th ruling
The history of the same-sex marriage battle and family law in Taiwan
Major turning points in Taiwan’s LGBTQ movement
The history behind Taiwan’s gay pride parade
How Taiwan compares to other Asian countries on LGBTQ issues
The next steps after the May 24th ruling
The marriage equality bill, civil partnership bill, multiple family bill
Other work that needs to be done in Taiwan for the LGBTQ community