Interview with Ji Huirong: I am a Christian, I am very gay, no one should be regarded as "the person below"

On 17 May, the Legislative Council voted article by article on the marriage law, and the Interpretation Act No. 748 of the Court of Justice was adopted on the third reading on the same day.

Outside the venue was windy and rainy, just like everyone's mood. In recent years, in fact, people have the bottom of the heart, who will stand in the wind and rain to support gay marriage. Among the social movement groups, there is also an organization, although it is a "women's movement" group, but in the face of comrades, they are willing to come forward very early. This is reinforcement.

We interviewed LiXin EXECUTIVE Director Ji Huirong, Yin and Yang difference, with the marriage out of the draft. As CEO for more than two decades, Ji led Reed from the very beginning to specialize in child prostitution relief, transforming care over a wider range of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, underage pregnancies, #METOO, not only for women, but also for men and LGBT. (Extended reading: Interview with The City Men's Old Heart Station Director Huang Huiren: At least Don't Make Men Feel Isolated)

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As a Christian, her long-standing solidarity with the LGBT community is rare among NGOs of Christian backgrounds. She recalls that she wanted to be a gay campaigner, and she met many victims of violence, knowing that no one was born to be considered "the man below." But it is not easy to push forward and has caused concern among directors.

However, the key to changing reed, she said, "is when one day we finally found out that we have colleagues, that is, comrades." 」

From violence against women to LGBT violence

When the general understanding of reinforcement in society, but also stay in women's violence, child prostitution issues of the initiative and promotion, Reed has already started the next step.

The undertaking of sexual violence cases has always been the expertise of Reed, and they have also used their expertise to support co-marriage and to undertake violent cases of gay and transgender communities, to assist in referral and placement, and to create a new scene of comradeship.

In 2018, they set up the Taiwan Men's Association to discuss masculinity traits and concerns about missing male cases. In May 2019, on the eve of the adoption of the marriage, they also set up the Center for the Prevention and Control of Multiple Discrimination, Gender Violence, which deals specifically with LGBT violence experiences. Because the path of sexual peace does not end because of the equal rights of marriage. (Extended reading: Interview with Comrade Hotline Peng Zhixuan: There is a kind of intimate violence is "You do not come out for me, you do not love me"

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From a social movement reporter to a "women's movement" war veteran

When it comes to heart-to-heart remembrance, Ji Huirong's everything has to start with the China Times, one of Taiwan's most important newspapers, 30 years ago. In the 1980s, the lifting of discipline was coming, and the outside movement was in full swing, with social, industrial and agricultural movements struggling.

It was a time when journalists were still respected. She entered the newspaper and ran the social transportation line. I said wow social line is so hard. She said that the social movement was a big line, what to write, what the front page published. "The peasant movement, the labor movement, how to write, are on the front page. 」

The mission of the reporter is to act as the fourth right to supervise the government, and should also stand with the weak. At that time, the China Times was a relatively liberal newspaper, but despite its sympathy for non-party and labour, journalists had to express their opinions in words to a limited extent, without going against the boss and the political climate. "We wanted to write about the DPP because the boss asked for a bracket that read "so-called" DPP, " she recalls. 」

In 1986, Angie Golmon, an American missionary, founded The Garden of Reinforcement, which first helped the prostitution movement. At the invitation of a friend, Ji Huirong was a reporter, occasionally helping to write a manuscript, responsible for making what now seems fashionable "newsletter". In 1989, Ji Huirong resigned from his job at the newspaper and officially joined Reed.

Thirty years have gone on, and the "so-called" DPP is back in power, promoting the third reading of gay marriage, and the so-called "reinforcement" has also been transformed from early child prostitution relief to a non-profit organization that undertakes a variety of sexual violence.

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In the name of love, I'm a Christian, I'm gay.

Many years ago, Reed was rated as relatively conservative by other groups because of differences in attitudes towards sex work. Five years ago, Reed was also unforgiven by the directors for supporting comrades.

"You know, we're a non-profit organization that's a board of directors and a Christian. Four or five years ago, when Reed discussed the issue of being gay, one or two of our directors really opposed it. Fortunately, however, instead of rebounding, they chose to leave. To this day, almost all of the directors are very supportive of our LGBT agenda. 」

The key to really changing the inside of Reinforcement, she said, "is when one day we finally found out that we have colleagues who are gay." 」

"At first we didn't know, and it was only in the last few years that they were willing to come out. Invisible, but also equal to from the beginning of the small revolution from the inside of the reinforcement.

Among them is a transgender colleague, Xiao Xuan (pseudonym). In and reed out of the cabinet, Xiao Xuan to work gradually began to appear yin and soft dress. "At first, he came up with the idea of going to the girls' room, and we had colleagues who were very much against it. But I think yes, the toilet also has a cubicle, you can't see him at all. Besides, our own toilets don't distinguish gender. 」

"But I can understand that fear. It's an educational process. People are not born to know how to get along with other people, people only learn, should also learn.

Xiao Xuan's out of the cabinet process is arduous and slow long, Ji Huirong are looking in the eyes. "At first his relationship with his family was very tense, but he moved and changed church, and we also found that his life, really because the cabinet slowly get better. 」

Over the years, Reed has moved to perform "Vagina Monologues", called "Picky", to collect gender stories from Taiwan, including barmaids, sex workers, gays and so on, each member will perform, perform monologues of different identities.

Many actors, through the performance to re-look at the body and lust. For example, moaning, our colleagues also watch the film, learn how to moan. I have to say that this is a big flip inside the reinforcements. They've also made a difference in their vision of lust, their sexual autonomy, their vision of LGBT.

Of course, they also include the story of Xiao Xuan.

Xiao Xuan is very eager to tell his story. He added a vaginal monologue, a personal performance, a boy's voice, a girl's voice, to speak out about his transgender experience. Later, Xiao Xuan developed symptoms of depression, accompanied by overeating and anorexia, and passed away.

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"But he is a man who has made a big difference to Reed. Ji Huirong recalls. "After his death, everyone suffered some psychological harm. We've been wondering, how well are we doing well in his life? Enough to accept him? Later, Xiao Xuan was also put into the vaginal monologue script, continue to move.

I don't want anyone to be treated as "the man below."

"Throughout the gay movement, we have had a great deal of introspection. I want to care about the multi-gender issue because we've seen so many social corners along the way, and we don't want anyone to be treated as "the person below". Whether it's a gay or a girl. She said. Along the way, it is often said that Reed is a "women's movement" group, which sounds a bit old-fashioned and makes people wonder if they can't keep up with the times, but in fact, they keep working hard to provide back-up on various gender issues.

They have also been attacked and ridiculed for the lack of legitimacy for a conservative approach to sex work. But in fact, the fact that the different positions in the face of one matter does not mean that other issues will never be compatible. In the face of the attack, she was honest with:

"I think the first thing to do is to know my direction, what exactly do I want to achieve?" In this way, in the face of attacks, we can clarify what is just a misunderstanding and what needs to be clarified. 」

"Furthermore, gender issues have always had multiple views, and I would like to see them in an inclusive manner, and I will not accept any opinions from the other side because he is different from me." 」

In Ji Huirong and Li Xin, we see that the so-called women's movement itself is in fact connected with the veins of the gay movement. On May 24th, gay marriage will officially go on the road. These days she writes in her Apple Daily column:

Is Taiwan's move towards the first year of marriage parity, not the first, not the most important, but whether we are closer to a human rights country? Towards a friendly, multi-gender society? I hope that in Taiwan, everyone of any sex can live well, happy, healthy, and hopeful.

Postscript

Ji Huirong, 63, also wanted to retire recently. When I asked her what she wanted to do in retirement, she said, "I'm going to be an eco-narrator when I retire." And it's better to have something to do with animals. I asked why, and she replied, "Because the world of man is too complicated." 」