Taiwan parents rarely have moral, religious opposition to LGBT issues: research

研究指出：台灣父母很少在道德和宗教上反對 LGBT 問題

Anti-LGBT sentiment rooted in negative stereotypes and low visibility, according to HKU paper


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese parents rarely have religious reasons for opposing their non-heterosexual children’s sexual orientation, and feel that increasing visibility of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people in society is reducing discrimination, according to a recent study out of the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Speaking to Taiwan News, Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Work and Social Administration HKU and author of the research Dr. Huang Yu-Te (黃昱得) said that Taiwanese parents’ concerns stem largely from anxieties about their child living in a society dominated by heterosexual norms and anti-LGBTQ stereotypes. He said that unlike in some western countries where Christian values dominate, his research shows that moral opposition to LGB people amongst parents in Taiwan is rare.

“I think it’s relatively rare to hear things like ‘our religion thinks this is wrong,’" Huang said. “The parents won’t even form their opposition on the basis of ‘right or wrong?’”

The importance of family context

Huang said that parents will more likely be concerned about the impact coming out will have on their children’s future, along with interpersonal issues. He said that respondents often spoke of concerns about how they would tell their families and friends, and how this would affect other peoples' perceptions of them and their children.

“One of the main arguments I want to put forward is that our understanding of parental attitudes towards LGBT issues needs to be situated in a family context, particularly in Taiwanese society,” Huang said.

Taiwanese parents’ initial reaction to their children coming out was often confusion and anxiety, according to the research paper. However, once parents were introduced to the concept that being born gay was normal, some became more accepting. “If you are wired like that, what’s the point of changing, right? I think this (idea) helped me accept fate and made me realize that my son’s sexual orientation is unchangeable,” one interviewee, a 58-year-old mother said.

Lack of visibility and historical discrimination

The research results also showed that some of the distress parents experienced when discovering their child’s sexual orientation was due to the lack of exposure to these issues throughout their lives. Huang says that greater LGBT representation in the media can help address this issue while also getting rid of pervading negative stereotypes.

“One side of it would be to say that LGBT people and straight people really aren’t that different,” Huang said. “They’re students, working people, they do all the things heterosexual people do, it’s pretty much all the same. The only difference is their choice of their partner’s gender.”

Secretary General of the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR) Chih-chieh Chien (簡至潔) agrees, saying that in a year, a viewer might only see 4 or 5 stories about LGBTQ+ people on mainstream Taiwan TV.

Chien said many of the cultural stereotypes about LGBTQ people in Taiwan are the result of discriminatory government policy and media coverage that was common when many older Taiwanese grew up. She said between 1950-1990 it was common to read headlines suggesting homosexuality was an illness, that it was morally wrong, and that it should be stopped.

“When I was in university, the instructors would say that LGBTQ people were perverted, so (anti-LGBTQ discrimination was normal) not that long ago,” Chien said.

Chien also said that continuing the family line is very important in traditional Chinese culture, so Taiwanese society will likely find it harder to accept gay people than other members of the LGBTQ+ community. “There’s research in Taiwan to show that parents will more likely accept their daughters if they are gay than their sons,” she said.

According to Chien, during the early years of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, campaigners thought it best for members of the movement to avoid being overtly non-heterosexual in their appearance and attitude, and that this in turn has impacted the visibility of LGBTQ+ people in society.

“Early on in Taiwan society, and in the gay movement, it wasn’t encouraged to come out of the closet,” and because of this, LGBTQ people are not presently as visible in society as they could be, Chien said.

Contemporary conceptions of discrimination

Huang said that another barrier to acceptance is the way people view the concept of discrimination, and says that people need to be aware that discrimination against LGBTQ+ people is pervasive in Taiwanese society.

He said that while some believe that discrimination is defined by a verbal or physical attack, this is not the reality for many LGBT people in their everyday life.

“In the research we’d often hear interviewees say ‘I don’t discriminate against them, but I don’t approve of their behavior,’” Huang said. “(In reality) your attitude toward and your treatment of LGBT people can also constitute discrimination.”