Feature New: Protest Against the Voyeurism Toward Lesbians
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
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Stop the Discrimination against AIDS Patients
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.
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