2013 gender discrimination review – concealed for 10 years

Giving lectures all over the country, 27-year-old Afen is a speaker for the education team at Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association. In his youth, Afen’s feminine temperament attracted ‘special attention’ from his peers. With the hope that instead of criticizing and judging homosexuality, people try to see the real life of adolescent homosexuals, Afen agreed to talk about the on-campus bullying he experienced during his college years, and share the touching story of coming out with his family.

In 2013, the fight for ‘diverse family formation’ ignited heated dispute all over the country. Staff members at Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association were most surprised by the fact that although human rights and gender education have been promoted for many years, homophobic and anti-homosexual views still exist within every corner of Taiwan. For over 10 years, the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association has seen countless homosexual children with complete despair and dread for the future. Taiwanese society has told these children that they do not deserve to live; it has told parents that their children are abnormal, have no future, and will live their lives in darkness; it has forced these children further and further away from their parents, with little hope of a reunion. This report aims to inform parents and children that they are not alone, and that a homosexual identity need not drive a wedge between parents and children; on the contrary, it may well be the bridge to forming a stronger bond.

2013 gender discrimination review – concealed for 10 years
URL:http://www.peopo.org/news/230537

(以下是中文對照)
【2013年度性／別新聞回顧】櫃中十年

照片

27歲的Afen是台灣同志諮詢熱線協會教育小組的講師，常常四處演講，他在青少年時期，也因為自身的陰柔氣質，受到同儕的「特殊眼光」。他分享了青少年時期受到校園的霸凌經驗，以及與家人出櫃的感人故事，希望各界可以放下批判與評斷，試著去看見同志青少年的真實生命樣貌。

2013年台灣因爭取「多元成家」，各方爭端四起，台灣同志諮詢熱線協會的工作人員最驚訝的是，長期以來人權意識與性別教育雖已推動多年，各式的恐同、反同言論卻依然存在於台灣的大多數角落。台灣同志諮詢熱線協會十幾年來看到無數的同志孩子對未來的絕望與恐懼，是台灣社會的這些想法告訴他／她們，他／她們不值得活下來；是這樣的社會告訴他／她們的父母，這個孩子不正常、沒有未來、會活在黑暗中；也是這個社會讓同志孩子及其親人漸行漸遠、難以團圓。因此希望藉由這則公民報導，讓孩子和爸媽都知道，妳／你們不孤單，同志身份可以不是親子間的巨石，反而可以成為雙方靠近的橋樑。