Taiwan Tongzhi

Tongzhi

Tongzhi is a term which literally means "same will" or "same purpose" in Chinese. Idiomatically, it means "comrade". It has taken on various meanings in various contexts since the 20th century, and now its use among the younger generation is slang for members of the LGBT community. The term was...

 Hotline Association (TTHA) is an organization providing people (especially LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

) with peer

Peer group

A peer group is a social group consisting of humans. Peer groups are an informal primary group of people who share a similar or equal status and who are usually of roughly the same age, tended to travel around and interact within the social aggregate Members of a particular peer group often have...

 counseling, support networks

Peer support

Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters, and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, listening, or counseling...

, and a community resource center.

It is a joint effort of 4 LGBT and gender issue-concerning groups, established in 1980.

Services and Activities

TTHA's tasks focus on counseling, cultural events, and the protection of LGBT rights.

• Counseling on gender identity
  Gender identity
  A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
  
  
• Counseling on LGBT relationship
• Counseling on Gay rights issues
• Providing LGBT-related information
• Hosting counseling and supporting groups for parents of LGBT
• Organizing and training volunteer workers
• Educating on Safe sex
  Safe sex
  Safe sex is sexual activity engaged in by people who have taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. It is also referred to as safer sex or protected sex, while unsafe or unprotected sex is sexual activity engaged in without precautions...
  
   and prevention of AIDS
• Hosting "Understanding LGBT" workshop for teachers since 2000.
• Hosting 2005 Taiwan Pride
  Taiwan Pride
  Taiwan Pride is the annual gay pride parade in Taiwan. The parade was first held in 2003. Although joined by groups from all over the country, the primary location has always been the city of Taipei...
  
  
• In 2004, Hotline joined forces with other local NGO to promote Gender Equity Education Act
  Gender Equity Education Act (Taiwan)
  Gender Equity Education Act of Republic of China was announced on 2004 June. The General Provisions states the purposes of the act: "to promote substantive gender equality, eliminate gender discrimination, uphold human dignity, and improve and establish education resources and environment of...
  
  .

As part of its work, TTHA has been supporting the promotion of gender equality education in Taiwan, notably through the inclusion of gay rights and sexual orientation topics in new curriculum for elementary and junior high school. By teaching youths about diversity in sexual orientation, TTHA and other like-minded organizations hope to enhance understanding and respect. TTHA also ties this to efforts to stem bullying in schools, which is often based on prejudices and stereotypes towards gender or sexual orientation. However, inclusion of sexual orientation-related topics in school curriculum has met with opposition, and TTHA and other gender and gay rights advocacy groups recently have had to file a slander suit against a group stating that gender equality curriculum would promote "sexual openness" and same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

.