媒體報道
在香港和台灣立法禁止性傾向扭轉治療 | 平權在線
LGBTQ+ Rights Webinar Series LGBTQ+ 權利講座系列
Legislating Against Conversion Therapy in Hong Kong and Taiwan 在香港和台灣立法禁止性傾向扭轉治療
Webinar Summary:
THE SOCIETY OF TRUE LIGHT (Dino Wong and Joann Yeung)
· Quantitative research: presented findings on the experiences, motivations, means, perceived effectiveness, perceived harms, impact on sexual identity and mental health of SOCE; notable findings include it’s 3 times more frequent for HK participants to have experience in SOCE than those in North America, and they usually first experience SOCE during their adolescent years, and SOCE contributes to internalized homophobia that disrupts healthy development of their sexual identities.
· Qualitative research: identified the contributors to SOCE motivations (religion, family, education, society/culture) to forms a “heteronormative/homonegative code”; motivations (beliefs-oriented and norm-pleasing-oriented) leading to formal/informal SOCE; what contributed to the cessation of SOCE (knowledge, community, religious/spiritual and cultural resources)
DR. HSU CHIH-YUN
· Introduced the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association
· The advocacy for a conversion therapy ban in Taiwan is set against the context of the push for same-sex marriage equality; medical professionals are heavily involved as advocates and published a position statement with the intention for it to be referenced by other Asian countries
· Discussed the rationale for banning conversion therapy through a letter of interpretation as opposed to a direct legislative amendment
· Shared anecdotes of his own experiences in advising LGBTQ+ children and their parents
Q&A
· How to balance between having laws and policies against SOCE and religious freedom
· Difficulty in defining SOCE to be regulated, as well as the scope and form of regulation (extending to clinical psychologist/counsellors?)
· Difficulty in identifying SOCE because of its elusive nature: the conversion therapy ban in Taiwan is more symbolic in nature and serves mainly the purpose of public education than enforcement (no cases brought against SOCE service providers on the basis of the ban in Taiwan thus far)
· Differences between sexual orientation change efforts and gender dysphoria treatment
· Experiences in treating asexual individuals
· Consequences of medical professionals engaging in SOCE
· Advice on LGBTQ+ advocacy
Speakers:
THE SOCIETY OF TRUE LIGHT is a Hong Kong-based NGO advocating for self-acceptance among the LGBTQ+ community. Their representatives, Dino Wong and Joann Yeung, will present the findings of their pioneering study on the state of “conversion therapy” in Hong Kong, from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives.
DR. HSU CHIH-YUN is a clinical psychiatrist who runs an LGBT consultation clinic at the National Taiwan University Hospital. He previously served as the Director of the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, and has written extensively about LGBTQ+ rights and their intersections with his professional medical experiences.
講者：
真光社為致力關注性小眾自我接納的香港非牟利團體。他們的代表黃政光和楊頌恩將會從量性和質性角度，分享他們就香港「扭轉治療」現況的研究結果。
徐志雲醫師為台灣金門醫院的精神科專科醫師，並在台大醫院開設同志諮詢門診。他曾任台灣同志諮詢熱線協會理事長，亦把自己在醫療體系內對LGBTQ+權利的觀察撰寫為《讓傷痕說話》一書。
日期：2023年3月14日