TY - JOUR
T1 - Network discrimination against LGBTQ minorities in Taiwan after same-sex marriage legalization
T2 - A Goffmanian micro-sociological approach
AU - Au, Anson
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was partially funded by the Asian Institute in the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. I thank Robert J. Shepherd for his assiduous editorial work and insightful suggestions, as well as two anonymous reviewers at Critical Asian Studies. I also thank Tong Lam and discussants at the 2018 Big Ideas research conference for comments on earlier versions of this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 BCAS, Inc.
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - In 2019, the government of Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage, the first to do so in Asia. Yet, despite its celebration as a sign of liberal progress, legalization appears at odds with the results of referendums that show a majority of Taiwan citizens oppose LGBTQ acceptance, following a steady decline in tolerance for LGBTQ people in Taiwan. To explain this, this article adopts a Goffmanian micro-sociological approach to interrogate LGBTQ experiences of stigma and discrimination in their networks. Using narrative and go-along interviews with LGBTQ people in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 2019, this article shows (1) latent forms of discrimination in families and at workplaces, (2) the intensification of discriminatory scrutiny within these spaces in the wake of legalization, (3) mental health consequences, and (4) social enclaves that offer some reprieve from discriminatory pressures. This article identifies a need for greater resource allocation to create safe spaces for members of the LGBTQ community and anti-discrimination policies to combat the capillary forms of discrimination that have arisen after same-sex marriage legalization.
AB - In 2019, the government of Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage, the first to do so in Asia. Yet, despite its celebration as a sign of liberal progress, legalization appears at odds with the results of referendums that show a majority of Taiwan citizens oppose LGBTQ acceptance, following a steady decline in tolerance for LGBTQ people in Taiwan. To explain this, this article adopts a Goffmanian micro-sociological approach to interrogate LGBTQ experiences of stigma and discrimination in their networks. Using narrative and go-along interviews with LGBTQ people in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 2019, this article shows (1) latent forms of discrimination in families and at workplaces, (2) the intensification of discriminatory scrutiny within these spaces in the wake of legalization, (3) mental health consequences, and (4) social enclaves that offer some reprieve from discriminatory pressures. This article identifies a need for greater resource allocation to create safe spaces for members of the LGBTQ community and anti-discrimination policies to combat the capillary forms of discrimination that have arisen after same-sex marriage legalization.
KW - Discrimination
KW - East Asia
KW - LGBTQ
KW - stigma
KW - vulnerable populations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134527156&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14672715.2022.2100803
DO - 10.1080/14672715.2022.2100803
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85134527156
SN - 1467-2715
VL - 54
SP - 594
EP - 618
JO - Critical Asian Studies
JF - Critical Asian Studies
IS - 4
ER -
