Connecting Taiwan and the World through LGBTQ+ Rights

The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) is pleased to invite you to a panel discussion titled “Connecting Taiwan and the World through LGBTQ+ Rights.”
Taiwan has steadily been distinguishing itself as a free and open democracy that champions human rights, to include LGBTQ+ rights—as seen in Taiwan’s 2019 legalization of same-sex marriage, which placed the island at the forefront of LGBTQ+ rights issues among states in Asia. This has also been accompanied by the emergence of Taiwan’s “tongzhi” (同志) people-to-people diplomacy, which has allowed Taiwan to leverage its protection of LGBTQ+ rights to enhance its international reputation, to strengthen connections with like-minded allies that value LGBTQ+ rights, and to build new civil society partnerships. Moreover, Taiwan’s success in legalizing same-sex marriage has led some to wonder if Taiwanese activists could help regional activists advance same-sex marriage legalization initiatives within their own countries. Placing Taiwan within a global context, this panel will aim to look at current challenges that Taiwan’s LGBTQ+ activists still face in Taiwan, and how this landscape influences—and is influenced by—global partnerships.
With a panel consisting of academics and practitioners, Sean Sih-Cheng Du (Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association) will begin our panel by outlining the work of Taiwan’s LGBTQ+ activists, and the strategies used in Taiwan to push forward LGBTQ+ rights. Addressing how gender representation in politics relates to policy changes, Young-Im Lee (California State University, Sacramento) will then discuss the role of female leaders in advocating for same-sex marriage. Then, turning the focus to transnational concerns, Whitney Pfeifer (Outright international) will discuss partnerships between Taiwan and Southeast Asia, and her work with Outright International’s Global LGBTQI+ Inclusive Democracy and Empowerment (GLIDE) Initiative; and Ying-Chao Kao (Virginia Commonwealth University) will present his research regarding the flow of anti-LGBTQ+ movements between the United States and Taiwan

The event will be held at GTI’s office located at 1836 Jefferson Place NW in Washington DC (approximately one block from the Dupont Circle Metro). Doors will open at 11:30 AM, and the event will begin at 12:00 PM. If you plan on attending in-person, please RSVP by November 4, as seating is limited. Light refreshments will be provided. Please direct questions or concerns to Program Manager Adrienne Wu at [email protected].
**Media: Please contact Adrienne Wu at [email protected] if you would like to bring additional crew members or equipment, so that we can be sure to accommodate you.

The Panelists:

Sean Sih-Cheng Du (he/him) is the secretary-general of the Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBTQ+) Hotline Association. He joined Hotline as a volunteer in 2002 and has since been actively involved in the work on LGBTI+ and PLWHIV's rights. He became Hotline's director of policy advocacy in 2011 and the secretary-general in 2021. His work includes social education, workplace equality, gay men's sexual health, and international affairs. He was a crucial member of the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan and a board member of the Persons with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan. He is currently the East Asian Representative of the ILGA Asia Executive Board, a member of the Gender Equality Committee, Executive Yuan, a member of the Taipei City Committee of Gender Equality, and a board member of the Taiwan Equality Campaign. He has a master’s degree in Sociology from National Taiwan University.

Young-Im Lee is an associate professor of political science at California State University at Sacramento, where she teaches Gender Politics and East Asian politics. Her research primarily focuses on the effectiveness of gender quotas in elections and gender and presidential elections in South Korea and Taiwan. Her current book project examines the election and impeachment of South Korea’s first female president Park Geun-hye. Her research appeared in Electoral Studies, Politics & Gender, Feminist Media Studies, and Washington Post, among other outlets.

Whitney Pfeifer serves as the program manager for the Global LGBTQI+ Inclusive Democracy and Empowerment (GLIDE) Initiative. Before joining Outright, Whitney spent four years at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) on the Citizen Participation and Inclusion Team guiding NDI’s work with persons with disabilities, ethnic and religious minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and LGBTQI+ communities. This included shaping NDI’s global inclusion strategies, conducting training for staff, and leading NDI’s learning on best practices, challenges, and innovations in regards to enhancing the political participation of communities experiencing marginalization. Prior to NDI, Whitney worked on ethnic minority rights and education advocacy in Thailand and Myanmar and helped landmine survivors and persons with disabilities form self-help groups to strengthen their networks and advocate for their rights.

Ying-Chao Kao is an assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University. His research interests include sexualities, gender and masculinities, global religions, and inequalities. He has published his work in the journals Contexts, Sexuality Research in China (in English), and Gender Equity Education Quarterly (in Chinese). His research on military masculinity was published in East Asian Men: Masculinity, Sexuality, and Desire and Masculinities in a Global Era. His traditional Chinese translation of Laud Humphreys’ Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places won the Editorship Award at the Taipei International Book Exhibition in 2017. He received his PhD in sociology from Rutgers University in 2018.

The Moderator:

Adrienne Chih-fang Wu is a program manager at the Global Taiwan Institute and the host and producer of Taiwan Salon, GTI’s cultural policy and soft power podcast. With an interest in exploring the intersection of culture and policy, her research focuses on how Taiwan can strengthen international connections through nation branding, cultural diplomacy and a strong civil society. She is a member of the UC Berkeley US-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, where she is conducting a research project on the barriers to importing Taiwanese cultural products. Previously a Taiwan Delegate for Strait Talk 2023 at George Washington University, she is currently a Strait Talk facilitator-in-training. Before joining GTI, she graduated from Ritsumeikan University and Kyunghee University with a Dual Master’s Degree in International Relations. She spent seven years living in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan—including three years of teaching English in Japan and Taiwan and a year of study at Waseda University while pursuing her BA in Honors East Asian Studies from McGill University. She also worked at the Presidential Precinct to help facilitate the Mandela Washington Fellowship Program for young African leaders.

Host or Publisher Global Taiwan Institute