Interview with Bruce Knotts, NGO/DPI Chairman: Children are gay, not bad friends, but born

At 9 p.m., Bruce knotts of yuan mountain hotel, just finished his visit to Hualien and returned to Taipei. Dressed in a formal suit, he was wearing several friendly medals, one written free and equal, and one was a logo for the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which he said he had to be handsome for an interview.

Bruce Knotts, chairman of the Un-NGO Public Information Committee and chairman of the United Nations office of unitarian Universalist, a devout and half-century-old comrade who is concerned about Taiwan's progress. Taiwan has spoken deeply with Taiwan's former president, who must stick to the path of marriage parity.

He witnessed Taiwan through the storm of Bi'ansheng, through the social tear of the referendum, to the adoption of the law of marriage celebration. He smiled and said congratulations, knowing that it was not easy along the way, "but this is only the first step, not the end of the story." (Extended reading: How do you view same-sex marriage?) The core of the family is love, not childbirth.

The marriage law is not the end, but walking on the road

"The current law is flawed, " Knotts said. "For example, the rights of transnational couples are not protected, and if same-sex couples come from Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, where marriage is illegal, they cannot marry; 」

He is familiar with Taiwanese law, talk ingress with several Janes, I asked him why he cares so much about Taiwan? "Taiwan, as the most likely country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, cannot be ignored, " he asked. 」

Referring to the result of last year's referendum, I said that the result made the gay community feel a certain degree of existential anxiety, and that they were rejected by the majority of the community, "I know that after the referendum result, nine comrades chose to commit suicide." In fact, I am very much opposed to the referendum, because human rights cannot vote, and you are born to be human, that is, the right. He likens, like the mainstream community for the minority, and the whites decide for the blacks, to think of it absurdly.

As the first place in Asia to pass marriage, Taiwan believes that there is a representative and exemplary role, if it can insist that both economic and technological development can make a difference, which is very practical, but also to attract talent, "many oppressed gay communities in Asia, will be eager to come to Taiwan, because they know freedom here, respect here." 」

The marriage law is to plant a seed, so that more people can imagine that there will be a fertile soil.

To the parents of fear: sexual orientation is there, has nothing to do with parenting

With marriage, life is about to begin. Many people want to get married, but found that they have not yet with the family out of the cabinet, how to talk, so difficult.

We talked about a lot of parents can not accept the first time children out of this matter, children injured, parents panic, home also pull the cold war, many mothers to blame themselves, "Is it wrong i did something, you will become like this?" 」

He said that if he could, he wanted to tell the frightened parents, "Sexual orientation is there, it has nothing to do with parenting, it has nothing to do with the environment, but it's natural." Children are gay, not because of "bad friends", not because the school taught "sex education", not because as parents have any "correctional responsibilities", that is a part of the child's body, if parents can see this matter, will give the child a sense of security.

He also wants to say to the child, "Your sexuality is there, be sincere to yourself, and don't try to be who you are." He said that in his time, really, a lot of people tried to live a "normal" life in other people, often ending in tragedy, hurting themselves, and possibly hurting others.

Respect for who you are is not just a personal subject, but also a social one.

The next battleground we will talk about, the education system, through education, to build a network of respect for equality, to tell everyone - any sexual orientation, no good or bad, but the way we are created, how we are.

"Understanding sexual orientation is like understanding left-handed and right-handed people, it doesn't have to be corrected, but it's different. 」

I was out half a century ago because I was in love.

He also told the story of his appearance, half a century ago, when he was 19 years old, the reason for the cabinet, because of love. Half a century ago, a long time ago, Harvey milk came out in 1970, and so did he.

"I remember his name being Tyron, " they said, walking by the sea, leaning on the rocks and looking at the waves, and his kiss suddenly flew over, "at first I wanted to push him away, and then I thought, "No, I really like it." Later they did more than kiss.

Tyron rolled the young boy's mind like a wave, he flew home to tell his mother, please mother do not tell his father, the result is not long after he was sent to a German school, this is a warning from the family. "My parents didn't accept me, and I felt like I was cut off. There was a rare complex expression on his face, "And my husband's family did, they said, Bruce we welcome you to the family, but they kept a safe distance from me." 」

Verbal respect but alienation is in fact a way of interaction that many gay communities often feel.

He mentions that Mr. Issac is African-American, the most supportive of his family, and is his 93-year-old grandmother, who says, "I see my grandson happier than ever, and that's the only thing I care about." Instead, the 40- to 50-year-old sage is embarrassed, feel that he is a family disgrace, the neighbors will not gossip, "in fact, think, is to care about their own being condemned, too much care about children." Children know.

He says there are almost all the same scenarios, regardless of country. He met a chinese comrade at Columbia University and asked them, Do your friends know you're gay? Of course I know. Does your colleague know? Of course I know. Does your parents know? There was a moment of silence.

Many comrades at home dare not speak the truth, or become the family of foreign people. In fact, in the future, whether comrades can feel love at home is the key, if the family can act as a force for support, he can grow from the source, the strength of social discrimination, is very precious.