Survey of LGBTQ+ Students Shows Changes and Remaining Issues

A survey of LGBTQ+ students shows what's changed at schools — and what hasn't — over the past five years.

Transcript

00:00The education department is in action. The human rights movement is in action.

00:06LGBTQ plus rights activists say Taiwan schools need to act. NGO Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association

00:12spent the summer of last year collecting online responses from over 1,700 LGBTQ middle and high

00:18school students. And the results are mixed. There are areas of improvement since the last survey

00:24in 2020. Students who feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation is down

00:29from 36 to 26 percent. There's a decrease in fears over gender expression, how students

00:34present to the world as well. When it comes to harassment and abuse, the numbers are less

00:40than encouraging though.

00:59At just under 58 percent, a majority have been verbally harassed, 20 percent have been

01:09physically harassed, and a little over 3 percent have even been physically assaulted. Transgender

01:15students face the most fear. Only around 8 percent have access to all gender toilets, and fears

01:21about safety in school are high. 43 percent of transgender students feel unsafe because

01:26of their gender expression. That's compared to just 16 percent of their L, G, and B peers.

01:33Hostile remarks about LGBTQ plus people from teachers and online bullying persist too, dragging

01:38down students' feelings of belonging and promoting absenteeism. The survey also asked about support

01:44from schools, from clubs and events to supportive policies, and even just openness about discussing

01:49LGBTQ plus issues. Here too, the results show limited change over the past five years.

01:54There are only 3 percent of students who have never been taught in the course of the

02:00community and the relevant discussion. This is the result of the current education.

02:06There are no good knowledge of the students, without a good knowledge of the students, without a good

02:09knowledge of the students, without a good knowledge of the students, without a good knowledge of the

02:12students, even without a good knowledge of the students. The NGOs represented the

02:19here have 13 recommendations from the government to the school level, including LGBTQ plus topics

02:25in the classroom, promoting LGBTQ plus events on campus, and revising policies that may be

02:30discriminatory. And some officials say they are taking action.

02:33Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019, and it's known as an LGBTQ plus

03:03friendly corner of the region. But those gathered here say there's more work to do, especially when it

03:08comes to supporting LGBTQ plus youth as they grow. Howard Zhang and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.