Opposing Gender Identity Laws in Taiwan - Jaclynn Joseph and Neo Yao

<p>After almost a year of organizing, Jaclynn Joseph and Neo Yao have founded Taiwan’s first gender critical, female-centric organization — Taiwan Women’s Association (TWA/Chinese 臺灣女性協會) — which has been officially recognized by the government.</p> <p>Originally from Hawai&#39;i and now based in Taiwan, Jaclynn Joseph is a university lecturer, Ph.D. candidate in the field of feminist philosophy, and the Taiwan country representative of the feminist organization <a href="https://www.womensdeclaration.com/en/">Women’s Declaration International</a> (WDI).</p> <p>A <a href="https://www.feministcurrent.com/tag/jaclynn-joseph/">guest writer for Feminist Current</a>, she was the first to shed light on the infiltration of gender identity ideology in Taiwan through her articles. </p> <p>Neo Yao was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. He has been a human rights and LGB activist for more than fifteen years, and a women’s rights activist for more than six years.</p> <p>Long before marriage equality passed in Taiwan, Neo assisted in the production of a gay marriage documentary during 2009-2011. He went on to volunteer during the 2018 marriage equality referendum in Taiwan, in the form of gathering petitions and organizing speeches.</p> <p>Neo served as an Advisor of Women’s March Taiwan, coordinator of multiple Women’s Day Marches and events, and personally led the preparation for the 2019 Women’s Day Parade.</p> <p>Neo began focusing on Women’s sex-based rights in the past several years, and along with Jaclynn, formed the Taiwan Women’s Association in late 2022 as a founding member, where he currently serves as an executive council member.</p> <p>Some founding members of TWA, including Jaclynn, also work with an organization called No Self-ID Taiwan (NSIDT). <a href="https://noselfidtw.cc/en/">NSIDT</a> is the only website in Taiwan dedicated to pushing back against gender ideology and tracking changes in related legislation. </p> <p>A volunteer for NSIDT said, “The website is the only one of its kind, and serves as the most