Alongside the existing “affective education” and “sex education,” the Ministry of Education has amended the enforcement rules to state that the curriculum will cover “different gender, gender characteristics, gender temperaments, gender identity and sexual orientation, and prevention and handling of sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexual bullying on campus.”

Wang says that while this amendment is useful for clarifying the content of “homosexual-related education,” the removal of that specific phrase means there is a risk that discussions will remain theoretical and geared to a worldview that sees heterosexuality as the norm, without taking into account the lived realities of LGBT people.

Still, Tsai says that anti-LGBT activists have reacted uneasily to the amendments, which they see only as a change in form and not in substance. “We’ve heard that down the line, it is very likely that the anti-LGBT camp will target the primary legislation” — or the Gender Equity Education Act — “for amendment,” she adds.

And while the act and its enforcement rules provide legal basis and broad outlines for gender equity education, Wang says that implementation in the classroom is usually subject to the interpretation of individual educators, available teaching materials and external pressures. Read more via Taipei Times

Wang, who also serves on the Ministry of Education’s curriculum review committee, says that educators and textbook editors come under “manipulation” from conservative religious groups to remove teaching content that they deem objectionable.

“Publishers may end up producing textbooks that just go for the lowest common denominator, something that everyone can accept,” she says. Wang also cites recent revelations about “rainbow moms” (彩虹媽媽), or conservative Christian parents’ volunteer groups, who were found to be conducting extra-curricular lessons in schools.