From The China Post:
The Ministry of Education on March 7 announced that gay topics will find a place in elementary and secondary textbooks starting next year, reversing course after activists protested a memo last month from the ministry telling high schools to ban gay rights groups.
The ministry’s announcement is a welcome and positive move towards the development of a healthy, free and tolerant society. Simply installing the software by including gay topics in school syllabuses, however, is not enough. There are still many misunderstandings and unfair judgments on homosexuality in Taiwan.
via Gay students should be allowed to develop ‘naturally’ – The China Post.
Not knowing much about the educational system or cultural nuances concerning homosexuality in Taiwan, I will keep my comments brief. Young kids going to school need to be allowed to be young elementary school kids learning the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. They do not need to be the flash-point of a culture clash (regardless of the nation they live in.) At the same time I have met a woman from there, who is on a Christian post-gay journey, and her story is amazing considering the ingrained cultural stigma against homosexuality she experienced.
I’m all for open dialog and cultivating cultural tolerance (for all views) … but not using elementary school children to try and force that to happen.
I encourage you to read the whole post. It’s pro-gay of course but it is interesting to learn about how this issue is manifesting there in Taiwan.
About Randy Thomas
I am trained as a social carer – mainly worked with people who have been homeless. At university, a guy on my course, who is mixed race, said, “We are pawns in a bigger game”. We had so much political correctness pushed at us. Most of us had worked in social care etc previous to starting the course, so had no need to be taught about anti-oppressive practice. Social workers spend most of the first year of their course learning about discrimination, instead of things like Child Protection, which is what they are meant to be about.
Teachers and police have taken on more ‘social work’ roles, rather than teaching and policing, and kids are being caught in the cross fire continuously of political party policy (around education that changes every two years or so) and social policy. It’s not fair, and no wonder we are turning out children who are illiterate at the age of 16. I agree, we are treated as pawns in a bigger game.
I am trained as a social carer – mainly worked with people who have been homeless. At university, a guy on my course, who is mixed race, said, “We are pawns in a bigger game”. We had so much political correctness pushed at us. Most of us had worked in social care etc previous to starting the course, so had no need to be taught about anti-oppressive practice. Social workers spend most of the first year of their course learning about discrimination, instead of things like Child Protection, which is what they are meant to be about.
Teachers and police have taken on more ‘social work’ roles, rather than teaching and policing, and kids are being caught in the cross fire continuously of political party policy (around education that changes every two years or so) and social policy. It’s not fair, and no wonder we are turning out children who are illiterate at the age of 16. I agree, we are treated as pawns in a bigger game.
This is a response to the gay issue in Taiwan. I was born and grew up in Taiwan, but have been an American citizen for over 3 decades. Even though I only visited Taiwan occasionally, I know the pulse of the cultural very well because I read the newspaper and I am a wirter with sociological and philosophical background. — All in all, it is sad that there are some people pushing the Gay Agenda in Taiwan, just like anywhere else today around the world. However, the “gay movement” in Taiwan was initiated by certain artists, dancers, and writers. They tend to consider themselves “cultural elites”, and they have a very sutle but deep impact on the culture. Since their artistic flares are well recognized by the general public, their viewpoints have been welcome by many young people. There are only 3% of Christians in Taiwan. That makes it very difficult for young people to really know what the purpose of their life is when God created them.
This is a response to the gay issue in Taiwan. I was born and grew up in Taiwan, but have been an American citizen for over 3 decades. Even though I only visited Taiwan occasionally, I know the pulse of the cultural very well because I read the newspaper and I am a wirter with sociological and philosophical background. — All in all, it is sad that there are some people pushing the Gay Agenda in Taiwan, just like anywhere else today around the world. However, the “gay movement” in Taiwan was initiated by certain artists, dancers, and writers. They tend to consider themselves “cultural elites”, and they have a very sutle but deep impact on the culture. Since their artistic flares are well recognized by the general public, their viewpoints have been welcome by many young people. There are only 3% of Christians in Taiwan. That makes it very difficult for young people to really know what the purpose of their life is when God created them.