Yo-Ling Chenby Yo-Ling Chen
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Photo courtesy of TAPCPR
AT 10:15 AM this morning on Transgender Day of Visibility, the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR) co-hosted a press conference with Amnesty International Taiwan, Student Alliance for Gender Equality (SAGE, 性別平等學生倡議連線), Taiwan Non-binary Queer Sluts (TWNBQS, 台灣非二元酷兒浪子), and the Intersex, Transgender and Transsexual People Care Association (ISTSCare) condemning the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) for procedural issues regarding changes to Taiwan’s conscription criteria that removes blanket exemptions for transgender people. Press conference attendees rallied around the slogan: “Procedural injustice and unreasonable amendments! Reject inappropriately raising draft exemption thresholds for transgender people!” (程序不正義、修法沒道理！拒絕不當提高跨性別免役門檻！). Overall, the press conference revealed striking details about the MOI’s sidelining of civil society and transgender community concerns over the past three and half months of negotiations, putting into question whether there is any hope for changing course.
Following the MOI and Ministry of National Defense (MND) announcing amendments to Items 109 and 189 of the “Physique Classification Standards of Military Service” that would remove blanket draft exemptions for (respectively) intersex and transgender people last December, multiple LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups severely criticized the MOI and MND for their attempts to solve Taiwan’s 16% draft exemption rate issue by forcing would-be draft exempt trans and intersex people into the conscription system through alternative substitute service. Critics pointed out the catastrophic effect that such changes would have on trans and intersex people in Taiwan, as well as how such changes would not actually contribute to solving Taiwan’s high draft exemption rate issue.
Since these criticisms were made last December, multiple civil society organizations, including student groups, have organized internal discussions and attended consultation meetings with the MOI and MND. For instance, the Taiwan Engagement Association for Youth (台灣青年思潮), SAGE, and TWNBQS held a youth forum discussion about the proposed amendments in early January. Taiwan’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also issued a statement on January 16, which pointed out that trans and intersex draft exemptions make up at most 0.045% of all draft exemptions in Taiwan, and also recommended that the MOI and MND re-evaluate their proposed amendments and take steps to establish protections against bullying, discrimination, harassment, and violence towards gender diverse peoples in the military. In response to unified demands for further discussion and re-evaluation across civil society organizations and Taiwan’s human rights establishment, the MOI and MND hosted multiple closed-door consultation meetings with human rights, LGBTQIA+, and student advocacy groups from January to March.
Photo of Chien Chih-Chieh speaking during the press conference. Photo courtesy of TAPCPR
At the beginning of the press conference, TAPCPR Secretary-General Chien Chih-Chieh (簡至潔) explained that human rights and gender advocacy organizations that criticized the proposed amendments last December and attended closed-door consultation meetings the past three months have consistently expressed the demand to first do formal gender and human rights impact assessment on the potential effects of changing existing exemption criteria for transgender people, and to maintain existing criteria until such evaluations are completed. Secretary-General Chien went on to criticize how the MOI recently began telling the media that a “basic consensus” has been reached as a result of these consultation meetings. In particular, Head of the MOI’s Department of Conscription Administration Shen Che-fang (沈哲芳) has made comments to multiple news outlets claiming that the government and civil society organizations have already reached “partial consensus” (部分共識) and “basic consensus” (基本上共識有了) on the conscription amendment issue. Hence the necessity of today’s press conference: to tell the MOI that civil society organizations have not reached a consensus on amendments affecting draft exemptions for transgender people. TAPCPR’s press release “strongly condemns the MOI’s disdain for procedural justice” and states that the civil society organizations gathered today “refuse to be used by the government as a rubber stamp of approval.”
Abby Wu speaking during the press conference. Photo courtesy of TAPCPR
ISTSCare Director Abby Wu (吳伊婷) shared during the press conference that throughout the consultation meetings, it became clear that the government agency most intent on removing blanket draft exemptions for transgender people is the MOI, suggesting that the MND’s attitude towards this matter has been more understanding; hence most specific criticism was directed at the MOI during today’s press conference as opposed to the MND.
Secretary-General Chien shared that the MOI and MND admitted during consultation meetings that they drafted their initial amendment proposals in consultation with doctors who had no expertise in transgender issues. TAPCPR’s press release specifically accuses the MOI and MND of selectively incorporating certain medical associations’ views that already align with their proposed amendments while ignoring civil society demands. TAPCPR’s press release further criticizes the medicalization of draft exemption gatekeeping in draft amendments through requirements such as a minimum of one year of hormone use or a minimum of one year of monthly follow-up appointments with a psychiatrist, which Amnesty International Taiwan’s Equality and Anti-Discrimination Expert Wu Peng-Fei (吳鵬飛) explained were put forward by the MOI during subsequent negotiations.
Photo of Wu Peng-Fei speaking during the press conference. Photo courtesy of TAPCPR
TAPCPR’s press release further explains that on February 23, the NHRC specifically condemned the MOI’s suggested threshold of at least one year of hormone use for transgender draft exemption as violating rule of law and containing the possibility of serious human rights harms, such as promoting “forced medical procedures.”
During the press conference, a journalist asked why the press conference specifically focused on transgender draft exemption criteria when the original proposed amendments included changes to Item 109 that would remove blanket exemptions for intersex people. Secretary-General Chien explained that over the course of negotiations the past few months, the MOI and MND decided to not change exemption criteria for intersex peoples; hence why this press conference focused solely on proposed changes to Item 189 that would remove blanket exemptions for transgender people.
Current DPP legislator Huang Jie (黃捷), while unable to personally attend today’s press conference, offered her written remarks in TAPCPR’s press release: “Before any draft amendments are finalized, a gender impact assessment should be completed, and substantive consultations should be held with experts and affected parties.” The demand for formal gender and human rights impact assessments was echoed throughout the press conference.
Lastly, today’s press conference included personal statements from two transgender women.
Graphic of Lin Xin-wei’s comments during the press conference; from TAPCPR’s Facebook
First, Lin Xin-wei (林芯葳) shared her experiences of conscription almost a decade ago before she medically transitioned. She pointed out how, while she was deeply closeted at the time, she was keenly aware of all of the ways in which the conscription environment rejected her gender identity as a woman (for instance, by requiring conscripts to all get buzz cuts) and exposed her to unnecessary risks (for instance, through communal shower and lodging facilities with inadequate privacy covers).
Graphic of Xiaozhu’s comments during the press conference; from TAPCPR’s Facebook
Second, 19-year-old high school student Xiaozhu (小竹) shared that if amendments that abolished blanket draft exemptions for transgender people are actually passed, she would likely be in the first cohort of transgender conscripts forced to undergo alternative substitute service. Drawing attention to the plight of transgender youth, especially those whose families do not support their transition, Xiaozhu criticized how unrealistic the MOI’s proposals for draft exemption medical requirements, such as a minimum of one year of hormone use or monthly psychiatric consultations, are.
Major media outlets, including but not limited to TVBS, PTS, China Times, Mirror News and Mirror Daily, have widely reported on the press conference. In response to this widespread media attention, the MOI’s Department of Conscription Administration issued a press statement this afternoon stating that they “respect the voices of gender diverse peoples” and “reiterate that [conscription] standards are continuing to be researched and discussed.” The MOI clarified that through this process, they will seek “the largest possible consensus” before implementing any changes. The MOI also, interestingly, stated that they will invite relevant organizations to Chengkungling Military Barrack’s Alternative Service Training Division to observe the environment there for the sake of improving conditions and ensuring human rights protections.
The MOI’s response to today’s press conference suggests that they are still intent on changing blanket draft exemptions for transgender people, but will proceed in consultation with relevant organizations to ensure that these changes are appropriately implemented. At the time of writing, it remains to be seen whether concerned civil society and gender advocacy organizations are satisfied with this response, and if they are even on the list of “relevant organizations” that the MOI plans to invite to observe the Chengkungling Military Barrack’s Alternative Service Training Division.