1) On August 2 the CTS evening news had a report named "Lesbian Bars, the Alternative Paradises." Reporters Hsie Jie-Hsiu and Rong Chao-Bei, after having the agreement from some of the co-owners of a lesbian bar, carried a hidden camera in a bag with a hole and shot scenes from the bar. This act seriously violated the privacy of those who were on the camera. The lesbian group WZJ (Between Us) has initiated protest against these two reporters and their supervisor Li Si-Duan.

2) A woman in Taichung claimed that a gay radio show made her son a gay after he listened to its programs. She planned to mobilize people to protest against that show.

3) A variety show in CTV has a new segment for drag show. It is called "Beautiful Men of the Century," and has been quite popular among the audience. A show at the same time slot in TTV followed and now also has a drag show segment. Officials from the Bureau of the Television and Radio in the government's Information Office questioned whether this kind of shows would encourage people to do drags. They reminded parents to pay attention and not let their children be confused about their gender identities. An Italian restaurant in Taipei¡¦s Li-Shui Street had a ¡§gays and lesbians unwanted¡¨ sign on its door. Gays and lesbians have been protesting against it on the internet. Chi Chia-Wei, a famous gay rights activist, wore a costume of an angel and protested in front of the restaurant. The owner later took down that sign.

You can go to the following websites for the protest letter against CTS, detailed information or to participate in discussion: http://www.to-get-her.org/protest.htm Please support the protest! CTS news division's email address: wwwnews@mail.cts.com.tw CTS news division's phone number: (02) 27756815 CTS news division's fax number: (02) 27516019

1) A medical intern in a medical center in northern Taiwan was punctured by a needle when he was treating a patient. Later that patient was found to be HIV positive. Currently the intern is receiving the "cocktail treatment" to avoid being infected by the AIDS virus.

2) The AIDS virus allegedly infected a medical test examiner in the Hsing Kuang Hospital when a needle punctured him. The hospital, however, claimed that the examiner did not have direct contact with patients, so it was not clear whether the infection was due to the needle or the examiner's personal behavior.

3) Two lifeguards in a beach a few days ago practiced mouth to mouth CPR on a drowning old man. Later the drowned man was found to be an AIDS patient, and it made the lifeguards fearful and anxious. They are now under the "cocktail treatment" to avoid being infected. Doctors said the mouth to mouth CPR is mainly exhaling, so the chance of infection is slim. The Chang-Geng hospital in Lin Kou discovered that AIDS probably infected a three-year-old boy through blood transfusion.

4) A fifty-year-old woman recently died of AIDS, allegedly because of a blood transfusion she received from a doctor eleven years ago after she gave birth of a child. That doctor later died of AIDS in 1988. The blood in this case was not tested in the blood donation center, so no compensation could be made.

5) A man who had sex with prostitutes in Southeast Asia donated blood after he came back to Taiwan. However, his blood might have caused AIDS infection for a patient of liver disease. This patient died recently, and, after the DNA test, it was confirmed that he was infected through blood transfusion.

Because of this case, the Publish Health Agency decided to raise the threshold for blood donation:

a. People of the ¡§dangerously behaved group¡¨(such as prostitutes and venereal disease patients) were not allowed to donate blood within a year. Now they are not allowed to donate blood within two years. b. People of the "high risk group" (such as drug addicts, alcoholics, homosexuals, bisexuals, workers in the sex industry, and those who are promiscuous, HIV positive, and having multiple sex partners) are not allowed to donate blood at all.

Whoever violates these two rules will be punished severely. People who know they have AIDS but still donate blood to make other people infected, according to the Regulation of AIDS Prevention, will be sentenced up to seven years in prison. People who do not know that they are infected when they donate blood will be charged for injuring others.

t is supposed to be a hot summer with the temperature reaching 100 degrees, but it feels like the coldest winter for homosexuals! The voyeurism of the TV programs remain unchanged, while the spread of AIDS once again stigmatized homosexuals. Facing the spread of the AIDS, the reaction of the Public Health Agency once again emphasized the equation between homosexuals and AIDS. They are quick to make moral judgement and to use criminal law to threaten the so-called high-risk group, but they are not willing to seek the prevention through solidly traced infection path. In fact, researchers have long pointed out that AIDS virus is a physical virus, not a moral virus. Instead of categorizing a certain people as the ¡§high risk group¡¨, the emphasis should be put at encouraging people to practice safe sex. A gay couple who uses condoms when they have sex will not be at greater risks than a heterosexual couple that do not practice safe sex. Only when we break away from the fear caused by the spread of AIDS, we can be on the right track AIDS prevention. If we were occupied by how to punish the people who got AIDS, we would be achieving nothing.

iA woman in the Yun-Lin County killed her husband by using a wood bat to hit the back of his head when he was asleep. He was a long-term alcoholic and battered his wife and children constantly. After the killing, the eldest son helped his mother burn the body. The killing did not surprise the people in that town because the husband's violence was well known. They intend to petition to the judge for mercy for the woman and her son.

Long-term Taiwanese dissident Huang Shun-Shin, who now lives in China, filed a lawsuit in Beijing against the publication of his ex-wife's work "Days of A Different Sentiment," claiming the book will damage his reputation. The Chinese court ruled to stop the publication, and the publisher in Taiwan is now hesitant about publishing the book.