July 11-17, 2011
Headline News
Amid congratulations, first association for parents of gays founded in Taiwan
Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong
Written by Lydia Ma
Taiwan recently became the first country in Asia to allow Loving Parents of LGBT to file or register as an official association. The organization held a press conference in the Legislative Yuan on July 8, 2011.
The association’s convener, a Catholic woman surnamed Kuo, said that parents of gay children typically undergo many hardships once their children finally come out. But after a while, most parents are able to accept the truth that their children are unique and will not blame them.
“Kids, it’s not your fault. You must be brave,” Kuo said during the press conference. She recounted how her child was bullied and called “psycho” in the fifth grade just because of differences with the rest of the children. What still saddens her most about this experience isn’t that her child is gay, but that society can be so biased as to hurt a young child’s soul. Though her child has grown-up, bullying in schools based on sexual orientation still occurs.
Kuo urged Taiwan – a nation known for respecting human rights – to stop its prejudice against gays. She also said schools could take the lead in changing social bias against gays by stopping bullying based on sexual orientation.
According to Rev. Elias Tseng, Taiwan’s first self-avowed gay pastor, the Bible was written during a specific time in history and set within a specific cultural context. A lot of exposition is needed for readers to accurately interpret biblical truths. He underscored the need for people to obey Biblical teachings and respect the testimonies of gay Christians – especially devout gay Christians.
He added that many churches that in the past used to believe traditional convention about homosexuality being a sin, are now slowly rethinking about this issue and questioning whether this belief is accurate.
Many well-wishers wrote to express their sincere congratulations at the founding of this association, including letters from pastors in Taiwan and abroad. Amid these letters was a greeting card from Rev. Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
