Image via Facebook @板中學生會
Taiwanese students are going viral for making an LGBTQ-inclusive statement.
The Asian country became the first in the continent to legalize gay marriage. And while several same-sex couples are jumping the broom, other LGBTQ advocates are jumping on the bandwagon of another issue. Gender identity and expression.
Technically, the rise in conversations about gender identity and expression started at the top of the month. While most citizens waited to see the results on the marriage equality issue, some activists decided to take matters into their own hands.
Students across the country started to lead “men-in-skirts” events. For instance, students at the New Taipei Banqiao High School organized a week-long event in early May where male classmates attended school with skirts on. Even teachers joined in on the event. Principal Lai Chunjin later commended the student by saying the event was to “smash gender stereotypes.”
After photos from this school went viral, others schools, like the National Taiwan University, started creating similar events.
“I thought to myself, if high school students are taking a stance like this, then we should be doing even more at a university to promote individual freedom and accept whatever it is that people want to wear,” said Political Science student Lin Huichu to The Observers and France Médias Monde.
He later added:
It seems with gay marriage now on the table, gender identity and expression are the next tasks to tackle in Taiwan.
h/t: The Observers
