Homosexuals in the ROC Military

Abstract

Homosexual activity in the military has long been dealt with harshly in the military by superiors and peers, yet officially at least, homosexuals seem to be largely ignored in the ROC army, almost as much are they are genuinely accepted by Taiwan society. Thus this dimension can be assessed as being in the realm of the postmodern military. Taiwan is a traditional Confucian-influenced society, and yet it recently became the first Asian nation to recognize same-sex marriage. The military, moreover, is a very conservative, risk-averse institution within society, and the way in which homosexuals are treated is illustrative of civil–military relations. The issue of homosexuals serving in the ROC military has not received the frank discussion that it deserves, neither in the academic literature nor in wider society. The vast majority (58.5 percent) of respondents in the current research expressed a preference for what essentially amounts to a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as had been practiced in the United States military until the turn of the century. An impressive 30.8 percent expressed the belief that homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly, while just 10.7 percent said they believed that homosexuals should be kicked out of the military. Overall, these results confirm what has already been observed and paint Taiwan as a nation that is remarkably tolerant of homosexuality – especially in comparison with its East Asian neighbors. By connecting with the media, popular culture, and postmodernism, gay/lesbian/queer movements on the island have succeeded in presenting their community as avant-garde, trendy, and most progressive on the cultural front.

Citation

Karalekas, D. (2018), "Homosexuals in the ROC Military", Civil-Military Relations in Taiwan, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 129-134. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-479-420181010