Taiwan Schools Won't Instruct on Sexual Desires

At a press conference Wednesday, the Ministry of Education in Taipei, Taiwan, addressed concerns from worried parents and teachers about its plan to include gay issues in elementary and junior high school curricula.

Last month the ministry announced that effective in September, schools would begin educating students on gender equality and raising awareness of diversity in accordance with the nation's Gender Equity Education Act.

Wednesday's press conference followed a phone call from legislator Chu Fon-chi requesting a halt to the plan. According to FocusTaiwan, Chu wasn't opposed "to the idea of teaching children about gender equality, but thought it would be too much to include issues such as homosexuality and sexual desires."

The section chief of the ministry's Student Affairs Committee, Eric Ker, addressed the crowd, saying the plan was to instruct students on "understanding sexual orientation" and that the topic of sexual desires was not on the curriculum.

The Gender Equity Education Act, passed in 2004, prohibits gender discrimination in schools and requires them to educate on gender equality.