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Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association (TTHA; Chinese: 臺灣同志諮詢熱線協會) is an organization that provides the LGBT community with peer counseling, support networks, and a community resource center. It is the first LGBT non-governmental organization (NGO) registered in Taiwan. [1]
TTHA was established in 1998 as a joint effort of four groups that focus on LGBT and gender issues, the Gay Counselors Association, Queer & Class, LGBT Civil Rights Alliance, and the Gay Teachers’ Alliance. [2] The organization's current director-general is Yu Zhi-Yun (徐志雲). [3] [4]
TTHA's tasks focus on counseling, cultural events, and the protection of LGBT rights including:
As part of its work, TTHA has been supporting the promotion of gender equity education in Taiwan, notably through the inclusion of gay rights and sexual orientation topics in the new mandatory curriculum for elementary and junior high school. [5] By teaching youths about diversity in sexual orientation, TTHA and other like-minded organizations hope to enhance understanding and respect. [6] TTHA also ties this to efforts to stem bullying in schools, which is often based on prejudices and stereotypes towards gender or sexual orientation. However, inclusion of sexual orientation-related topics in school curriculum has met with opposition, and TTHA and other gender and gay rights advocacy groups recently have had to file a slander suit against a group stating that gender equity curriculum would promote "sexual openness" and same-sex marriage. [7]
"There has never been a comprehensive report on the government's LGBTI policies," association secretary-general Tsai Ying-chih (蔡瑩芝) said, adding that "previous reports on those policies are either limited in scope or lacking in statistical evidence."