Same-Sex Marriage Movement and Countermovement in Taiwan

This project was inspired by a picture of a rainbow flag with Taiwan’s map in the center, which I randomly encountered online. I first wrote a term paper about the movement for the class, Sociology 626: Social Movements, and then invited Dr. Douglas M. McLeod who specializes in framing theory and Dr. Yidong Steven Wang in queer theory to the project.

Taiwan is the first nation in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. This legislative achievement sent hope and courage to the activists in the neighboring countries to take action and exerted pressure on other governments to make progress. This project documents both the civil and legislative efforts to grant marriage equality, how the issue was intertwined with the geopolitics in East Asia, the similar strategic discourse linking sexuality with nationalism that has been growing in the West but among homophobes, and the contestation around the concept of democracy.

This project uses the framing theory in both communication and social movement studies and a mixed-method approach. We argued that the mobilizing potency was facilitated by the growing nationalistic sentiment associated with Taiwan’s national independence under China’s military pressure and the Confucian traditions concerning gender roles. My first-authored research article was selected and featured on Sage Perspectives for broader audiences, discussing the significance of Taiwan’s vibrant civil society for democratic development and calling for public attention on the civil rights of marginalized sexual groups who have been systemically and culturally discriminated against in East Asia.